Welcome back to The Injustice Wars. Last time, Blaze and some members of the Legion, Republic, and Insurgency got together and tried to figure out some of the items on Dick Grayson's list of things necessary to restore Dragnarok from his current state as Darkblood. Three were kind of obvious, and four others they got solid guesses as to what the heck they are. The other six though? No clue. However, our story doesn't resume with them quite yet. Rather, we're going to shift to another perspective, tell another tale that needs telling. What do I mean exactly? Read on to discover...

(Our scene opens up in some kind of underground cavern with a subterranean lake. And from that lake emerges a familiar submarine. And from that submarine exit Black Manta, Doctor Fate, Raven, and Darkblood, with Black Manta carrying a laptop with the familiar emblem of Brother Eye on it)

Darkblood: Are you sure this is the place?

Brother Eye: Affirmative, Master.

Black Manta: Remind me again why we're trusting the computer with this?

Brother Eye: I was programmed with a full database of Regime facilities discovered by the Insurgency by Bruce Wayne himself. There was a facility down here.

Darkblood: Consider your curiosity sated, Manta. Now then, you said this place would contain something useful to us. Care to fill us in?

Brother Eye: Certainly, Lord Darkblood. The facility down here was a research and development center used by Doctors T. O. Morrow and William Magnus, after being conscripted by the One Earth Regime. After the fall of Superman, the two scientists went missing. Presumably they were heading here.

Raven: Considering those two were responsible for creating Red Tornado and the Metal Men, respectively, whatever they could build together must be incredibly powerful.

Darkblood: Hence why we're here, Raven. Now then, lead us onward, Brother Eye. Let us see what two robotics geniuses were working on.

(With that, the five villains disembark the submarine and head deeper into the cavern, before long, coming to a wall that seemingly marks the back of the cavern)

Black Manta: A dead end. (To Brother Eye) Are you sure this is the right place?

Brother Eye: My calculations are never wrong.

Darkblood: A simple obscured door. We'll make swift work of that. Fate.

Doctor Fate: As you command.

(With no hesitation, Doctor Fate casts a powerful burst of magic on the back of the cavern, causing the fake wall to disappear, revealing a hidden laboratory filled to the brim with various metal scraps, mostly of gold, iron, lead, mercury, platinum, tin, and copper.)

Black Manta: What the heck happened here?

Brother Eye: The results of William Magnus going off of his medication: The End of the Metal Men.

Raven: Huh, I would've expected that's what we were here to find. Turning the Metal Men to our side would have been good.

Darkblood: Something tells me Magnus wouldn't have destroyed his prized creations unless he was looking for something else.

Brother Eye: I can confirm he was, Master. The Responsometers that powered them. T. O. Morrow gathered the data from them and used it to create what I have brought you here for.

Darkblood: Then please, reveal what they worked on. Don't keep us in suspense.

(Brother Eye leads the villains towards the back of the laboratory where two androids resembling a fusion of Red Tornado, the Metal Men, Infiltration Unit Zeta, and a little bit of an Ultron Sentry with arm blades akin to Tarkatans stand in some sort of stasis pod looking things.)

Brother Eye: Behold, the two scientists' greatest work. The Ex Machina Androids. Deus, on the left, and Diabolus, on the right. The ultimate assassination androids. And ultimately, the cause of T. O. Morrow's change of heart.

Darkblood: (Slightly confused) Come again?

Brother Eye: These two have never been activated. In a moment of sanity, William Magnus convinced T. O. Morrow that the fusion of their technology was too dangerous to end up in the hands of the Regime. So they sealed off the lab. Once Superman was released, the two immediately headed here. It is very unlikely they survived.

Darkblood: Fascinating.

Black Manta: So what're we here for? Stealing the robots so we can duplicate them?

Darkblood: Why duplicate them, when we can activate them?

Brother Eye: That was my thought exactly, Lord Darkblood.

Darkblood: Then say no more. Raven, Fate, if you would?

(Knowing exactly what their master is asking, Raven and Doctor Fate infuse some of their power into Darkblood, who then charges himself with Dark Aether before slamming the ground with his paws, sending the power rippling through the ground, shattering the front of the pods and energizing the robots, the dark power being enough to activate them)

Deus Ex Machina: Query: Are we... alive?

Diabolus Ex Machina: Observation: It would seem so.

Darkblood: I was half expecting you two to just say "Hello World", but this is nice too.

Deus Ex Machina: Query: Who are you?

Diabolus Ex Machina: Statement: I was just about to ask the same question.

Darkblood: My name is Darkblood. Though many call me the Dark Master. I came here seeking warriors for my Empire, and you two showed the most potential of anything in this laboratory. It was my energy that activated you.

Deus Ex Machina: Observation: It seems we owe you a great debt.

Diabolus Ex Machina: Statement: I concur.

Darkblood: Then all I ask is your unquestioning obedience, for a time. Once I have bested these other factions we re faced with, I will ensure you two reign supreme over... well, whatever it is you might want. We can work out the details later, honestly. So, do we have a bargain?

Deus Ex Machina: Statement: The fulfillment of our debt is all we seek.

Diabolus Ex Machina: Statement: If serving you will do such, we shall do as you say for as long as you request.

(With that, the two robots take a knee before their new master, giving Darkblood cause to smile.)

Darkblood: Excellent, excellent. You may rise. (As the Ex Machina Twins rise) Once we return to my headquarters, we will set about putting you two to the test. Oh, this will be fun...

(And on that ominous note, our tale ends for today)

And that looks like a good place to wrap up for now. So, now we have two more villains for the Empire to command: Deus and Diabolus Ex Machina. And actually, if my memory of Null's original characters for the Empire faction is correct, I think these two were the last ones to bring in, so now with Year Four on it's time, the Empire is almost complete! I'm pretty sure there's only two characters left to introduce to that faction. Both of them are from DC Comics proper rather than fan characters, and we'll be getting to them in due time. I know there's still two characters from the original Fighter Packs to introduce, and they're on their way, should be fully introduced by the end of Year Five, which is going to start soon, since Year Four has run it's course mentally for me. So, what awaits now that the Empire is likely whole? Tune in next time to find out! Same time... same channel!