=====A=====

"She is not here."

…I bet other people don't have to deal with this sort of thing this early in the morning, Noah thought to himself. He had just finished breakfast and started checking on various things in his workshop when his 'roommate' suddenly barged in, slammed her hands against the wall next to his head, and effectively pinned him there as she made her (nonsensical) proclamation. He was even still holding his coffee mug, for god's sake. And yet somehow, beyond all that, Komand'r had an additional way to make his morning more annoying. "Woman, you're getting water all over my floor."

Noah could only guess that she had some sort of Eureka moment in the shower as, somewhat apropos, the woman was both soaking wet and completely naked.

"Never mind that." Komand'r waved him off, the water dripping from her hand splattering him a bit. "It's been too long since my sister has actually done anything. It's all been brief appearances and talks in front of crowds, but no reports of her engaging in combat. The Koriand'r I remember was not broken enough to be this passive, and her history on this world before I arrived proves she hasn't changed."

Noah took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. A large part of his 'job' hosting Komand'r was to keep the woman from going stir crazy. He had managed to delegate a few target liquidation missions that the Light handed down to him off to her, ones where he knew he could keep traces of her hidden. But it looked like he might have waited a little too long this time. "Are you going somewhere with this?" He said with a sigh, thinking about how he was going to have to mop up the woman's water trail.

"And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, " Komand'r remarked. "Koriand'r is not on this planet. I am certain of it."

Noah arched an eyebrow. "That's a pretty bold guess, considering all those public appearances she's made."

"It is not a guess, it is a deduction." She countered back. "There is no other explanation for the woman's passivity. Whatever they are touting in front of the people of this planet, that is not her."

Noah held back another sigh, but as he looked at her he couldn't deny the conviction in her words. Komand'r was a drama queen, but for all of her borderline delusions of grandeur, living with her had taught Noah that she had good instincts. He had watched her expertly ferret out targets on those elimination missions, and she was even helpful in managing the Envoy (as the alien who had been sending the signal the found called himself) whenever they decided they wanted to talk. Komand'r might not know what specifically is happening, but if she felt something was wrong… she was probably on to something.

And he had to admit, things had been feeling a bit… off lately with regards to how the heroes were operating. There had been more of the kiddies for one, and more of the robots for another. Sure, they could have just been scaling up in response to 'losing' some of their own to the Genomorph/Silver situation… but now that Komand'r mentioned it, it felt more like they were covering for something. "If that is the case," Noah said slowly. "and that's a big if… I have a feeling the same might be true for Machina too."

"I suppose. He does seem like the type of person Koriand'r would keep." Komand'r mulled, looking away in thought (while still invading Noah's personal space). "But he was also on my ship as it exploded. How do you know that he's not simply dead and they are covering it up?"

"How do you know Koriand'r wasn't killed in the clusterfuck in Washington?" He shot back.

"...Fair enough."

Noah snorted. "Regardless, if we assume this is true it begs the question… Where the hell are they?"

"How should I know? This is your planet." Komand'r retorted, finally pulling away from Noah to half sit/half lean on a nearby table. "This world seems to get more absurd the longer I stay here. The last time that demented spirit Klarion decided to 'help', I ended up chasing my target through an upside down city where everyone spoke in backwards rhyme. You're the one with the information network, you find them."

"You know, if you weren't so adverse to doing your own legwork, maybe you'd be something other than a freeloading bum right now." Noah said pointedly. Komand'r, of course, didn't care and just stared at him expectantly. Rather typical of the bitch to make him do the hard work when she didn't feel like making an effort. Adding to this annoyance was the fact she had still made no effort to cover herself, probably in some childish attempt at manipulation. And with the short distance between the two Noah could see every perfectly sculpted part of her body that most men would kill for. Fortunately, Noah was more tempered than most men, so he was able to keep his gaze on her face.

'In the 4 times she blinked while talking, your eyes flicked downward', his passenger said.

Go fuck yourself! Noah thought back vehemently. And that was another problem he was dealing with lately. His passenger should not have been able to read his thoughts like that, at least not since he put on the control collar. But ever since Komand'r had almost crushed his throat and Noah had to activate the broken scarab, things had started to… shift.

It was almost a subtle thing at first, or at least his passenger's attempt at being so. But Noah had been more attentive to his own thoughts since he first collared himself, so he easily spotted when some odd thoughts popped up. He quickly figured out that it had started after the strangling incident. And unfortunately, it didn't stop after he fixed it. And more unfortunately, he was quite certain his passenger had 'leaked out' into the nanite battlesuit that partially covered his body. It would certainly explain why he couldn't retract the damn thing.

But this was all a guess, and if his passenger was making an attempt at taking over his body it was a damn slow one. Just another thing to worry about, in the end. Putting that aside for later, he sighed. "If they really are off-world, this is going to make dealing with the Envoy awkward," He eventually muttered.

Things between himself and the Envoy had been touch and go since their first contact. The alien was very distrustful of Noah (especially after he managed to contact them unexpectedly), but they managed to create the polite fiction between the two of them that they the Envoy was hiding in the system as part of a 'discrete survey of primitive civilizations', and Noah was giving him inside info in exchange for access to the Envoy's scanner data. It was bullshit, they knew it was bullshit, but it worked so long as neither knew exactly what the other wanted.

That said, between their sporadic bits of contact, Noah had managed to piece a few things together. Given the signal they had sent before they arrived and some not too subtle questions about powerful individuals, it was clear that the Envoy was looking for Machina. Noah could only assume that this 'Reach' they belonged to was the origin of Machina's nanomachines, and they wanted them back.

The exact 'why' still eluded him though. As well as what their connection was to the piece of twisted tech he had found his passenger in, which he was sure was related as well somehow .

Komand'r knew all this (about the Envoy, in any case), so she just waved her hand. "It's not like we haven't been stringing them along already. But yes, they've gotten anxious. We should make some visible effort to find the pair."

Komand'r's desire to flush out the missing superheros may have been personally motivated, but Noah agreed it was worth doing with those two. They in particular had a nasty habit of turning up exactly when they weren't wanted. And without any other leads, that left him with a simple course of action: target their allies instead. "Well, we don't know where they are, but we do have a pretty good idea who does. After all, they're the ones who have been organizing the pair's 'public appearances'."

Komand'r looked skeptical. "You haven't had the best luck with the Silver thus far."

"I know," Noah replied with a growl. "But I need to take care of them at some point anyway. I just need to find the angle… and make sure to stay undetected… and be able to counteract any defenses I don't know about… and actually figure out where they're centered..." He wasn't used to being on this side of the equation; typically he had far more data on his opposition to work with, but even months later the Silver remained frustratingly impenetrable. He supposed that he shouldn't be surprised that a group of magical AIs practiced good data security, but it wasn't any less infuriating.

Komand'r stared at him for a moment before she rolled her eyes. "You're overthinking it again. If you don't have a clever plan that works, use a simple one. We know where the Titans make their nest, and how they are allied with the Silver. And I'm sure you have something of sufficient destructive power in this lab. Just smash their base of operations open, watch them panic and flail, and then pick your opportunity to raid the Silver when they are distracted."

Noah stared back at her flatly. "And bring a shitstorm back down on our heads too, while we're at it. Our biggest asset right now is that as far as they know, we're not their most immediate problem. Along with them not knowing where we are. Something they are definitely going to work on if we attack them so blatantly. Not to mention that place is a veritable death trap."

Komand'r closed her eyes and rolled her head back, letting out a suffering moan. "Urgh, may whatever gods exist on this world save me from your pathetic, indecisive whinging!" She brought her head around to fix him with a glare. "I would have thought you'd have grown more of an actual backbone by now, but if you had it your way, all you would do is sit in your hole and plan and worry. Stop enumerating all of the problems and start coming up with actual solutions, you simpering peasant! You have an informant in the Titan's ranks! Use them!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize the princess was getting bored again." Noah growled back. "Do you want me to jangle my keys in front of you, so you don't go wandering off? Because otherwise you'll probably get everyone around you killed, like you always do, you inept kakapo of a woman! That informant doesn't even know that those two are missing, you think they can actually learn anything useful?! And if we brute force this, it will just end like all the operations you command have! The only way that would work for us is if we got someone else entirely to-!"

Noah stopped, blinking as his brain caught up to his mouth. "If we got someone else to do it for us… that might work. A layer of separation, letting them take all the attention and possible failure." Noah's mind started spinning as facts and ideas clicked into place. Komand'r mention of the informant reminded him of a little fact they learned recently, from a careless comment made by one of the Titans. "I just need to find a patsy and give them the right motivation. And I doubt Klarion reads all of Light's information reports. If I tell him that-"

Noah's head rocked to the side, and there was some ringing in his ears. He shook his head to clear it, and he found Komand'r once again in his personal space, her violet eyes staring into his. "You said to slap you if you ever considered asking that little chaos grelk for help." She said.

He reached up and touched the side of his mouth, his hand coming away with a few drops of blood. He looked back at her with a bloodstained grin. "Aw, you pulled your hit compared to last time. You gettin' soft on me?"

She loomed over him, but her voice had lost the slightest bit of edge as she said. "You sounded like you were on to something. I hit you just hard enough to remind you that you were about to make a foolish mistake. You are more useful fully intact, after all."

"Heh, how… practical of you. Anyway, don't worry. I've already got someone else in mind."

She gave him a look before a smirk crossed her face, and she leaned in close enough that he could feel her breath on his face. "Good. Make your plans. But just remember… I have plenty more ways to correct you should you act foolish again." She said, before she finally turned and walked away.

…is she deliberately swaying her hips- No, focus.

Draining the rest of his coffee (and ignoring the taste of blood mixing with it), Noah walked over to the closest console and opened the Light's database of contacts. While Klarion was a bad idea, using someone more focused on magic was the smart play. Anything technological that went into that mountain (that wasn't under his direct control) would be immediately compromised. And Noah knew someone else who didn't know about the Helmet of Fate's location, but would take a crack at it if they did.

He found what he was looking for and was slightly surprised that there was a phone number attached. How modern of him, he thought before he started the call, settling in to wait. The phone rang for several minutes before someone finally picked up on the other end. "Hello?" Responded a deep male voice.

"In the Wolf's Glen at midnight, seven bullets are forged." Noah said, reading off the passphrase to let him know who was calling.

Well, let him know in general at least, as after a moment the man on the other end hummed and said "I don't recognize this voice. Who gave you my telephone number?"

"The Light has it on file, Wotan." Noah replied. "Though to be honest I'm surprised an immortal sorcerer has one in the first place."

"Much of modern invention is frivolous, but easy communication not reliant on magic is always useful. That said, should you be wasting my time, I will have no trouble tracking you down through this wire and impaling you on a tree like a shrike for your insolence."

"Oh don't worry, this is most definitely worth your time." Noah will say with a grin. "I have access to some privileged information that's being kept in the Light's inner circle for the moment, but I'm willing to give it to you for the promise of a little discretion. Tell me: how would you like to know where the Helmet of Fate is being kept?"

"...I'm listening."

Aliens, Robots, and Superheros, Oh my!

Should the Genomorphs and AIs be considered for Citizenship?

Artemis snorted when she saw the newspaper title on the newsstand before she just kept walking down the street. And yet somehow the Gotham Gazette is one of the less sensationalized rags in the city, she mulled to herself. Her home city was no stranger to the weird and unusual, but that just meant it was met with a healthy amount of fear and suspicion. And the last couple of months of the Genomorphs and Silver taking the national stage hadn't helped that one bit.

Admittedly, Artemis hadn't really been keeping up with the two groups' public efforts. Since… Jacob wasn't there as a point of contact for her, she mostly had just let Calculus handle things. She had asked Superboy about it once or twice, him being the Titan with the most active involvement in the whole affair, but her superhero work had kept her busy enough that she never really got involved herself. It was a wonder that she even got personal time these days.

Of course, when she got a text from her mother that she wanted her to come home because they 'needed to talk', Artemis managed to make an opening in her schedule. Her mother was rather vague as to what she wanted to talk about, so Artemis was a little on edge as she rounded the corner to her home street.

So naturally, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a voice speak up behind her. "Hey!"

She spun, half ready to punch whoever had snuck up on her, only for her face to scrunch up in surprise when she saw who it was. "Wally? What are you- wait are you following me?"

Leaning on a lamppost, Wally gave her a wave and a grin. It was almost odd seeing him out of the Mountain in civilian clothes. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him like this."What? No, I was, uh, you know, just in the neighborhood. Funny seeing you here and all." Wally replied.

Artemis narrowed her eyes. It was obviously bullshit, but more than that Wally was looking… off. There were some dark lines under his eyes, and he looked like he was a bit out of breath. "Uh huh. Tell me why you're actually here."

"Hey, can't I just be around places-" Wally stopped when Artemis simply turned and started walking away, not wanting to deal with right now. "Alright, wait." He called out, getting her to turn back. "Look, I just wanted to… check in, you know? I've barely seen you outside of missions."

Artemis tilted her head in confusion. "I'm fine. Things are fine. My mom wanted to talk, so…" she drifted off. She couldn't remember if she had ever told him where she lived, but now it seemed a bit moot.

"Ah, gotcha, ok, sure." Wally nodded, his face somber. "Not a good time then. I guess I'll catch you later."

Artemis stared at her… ok, her friend for a few seconds before her tone softened. "...Are you alright? You look terrible."

Well, she softened it a little bit.

"What? Of course I am! I'm just… It's…" Wally struggled for words for a moment before he let out a sigh, almost deflating in front of her. "...I don't know." He finally said, sitting down on the curb. "I just… things feel off, you know?"

Artemis was silent for a few seconds before she sighed as well, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, I do." On the surface, the Titans were doing fine. They were taking down minor villains left and right, they had more support than ever due to the Silver's involvement… hell even their roster got expanded a bit. But like Wally said, it just didn't feel quite right. And the reason why was obvious. "It's just not the same without them, huh?"

Without looking at her, Wally nodded. "Came here 'casue I remembered something Robin said. 'It feels like we're on two different teams sometimes.' I don't know but… it feels like that's gotten worse?"

Artemis had a hard time refuting that. By this point the Titans had existed without Jacob and Kori for longer than they had with them, but they had been the core of the group. Those two weren't just leaders, they were kind of the heart of it. The Titans weren't falling apart without them or anything, but there was a fracture of sorts which hadn't gone away. Artemis turned her mind away from those morose thoughts to say "I didn't realize it was bothering you that much."

Wally will make a vague gesture. "I guess. This superhero thing used to be a lot more fun. Now it's just… work. I don't really get it either. I'm not doing anything different now, just more. But I feel like I'm hitting my limit here."

Artemis frowned. "Not to be a downer, but I don't think being a superhero is supposed to be 'fun'."

Wally scowled back at her and for a moment looked like he was about to argue. But then, he stopped. "Yeah, you're probably right. You know, sometimes I wonder what I'm even doing-" Wally cut himself off and bolted up, getting up from his sitting position. "Ah, never mind. I'll see you later Artemis, I've gotta… yeah." Without saying another word, Wally turned into a blur of motion and was gone.

"...What was that about?" Artemis wondered, staring at where her teammate was a moment ago. She wasn't used to seeing Wally like this, and it made her deeply uneasy. She'd have to check in on him later herself, though she didn't know what she would even do when she did. And in any case, she had more immediate concerns. She resumed walking towards her mother's house, and a minute later she was walking through the door. "Mom! I'm home!"

"Artemis!" A happy voice called out from deeper inside the home. There was a pause before her mother emerged from around the corner, wheelchair squeaking as she rolled to a stop in front of her. "I feel like I barely see you these days." She chided, though she still reached out and wrapped her in a hug.

"I know, I'm sorry." Artemis will say as she returned the hug. In spite of her mother's insistence, Artemis still felt a bit bad about leaving her mother alone so much. The spinal injury had made her life that much harder, and while she often said otherwise her mom still needed assistance from time to time. The two broke apart and Artemis placed her hands on her hips. "So, what's this we need to talk about?"

Her mother blinked. "What? What do you mean?"

Artemis quirked an eyebrow. "You know, you messaged me saying 'Come home, we need to talk'." She pulled out her phone and showed it to her, said message on display.

"...Artemis, I didn't send this." Her mother said after a beat. She pulled out her own phone and checked, and Artemis could see that she was telling the truth. "Wait, you didn't respond back did you? Did you tell them anything?"

A pit of paranoia started to form in Artemis's gut, and she pulled back her phone. The message definitely read as coming from her mother's number. That wasn't impossible to spoof, but it was a lot more effort than scammers usually put it. "No, I just came here."

"Hmm. Well, I'm sure it's nothing, just a scammer or some such." Her mother said, her cheerful tone not matching her eyes. Her mother then wheeled herself around and headed towards the closest. "Actually, while you're here, could you get something out of the basement for me? Just a box of old things next to the boiler." As she said this, she pulled a shotgun out of the closet and began quietly loading it, her eyes flickering to Artemis and then the stairs leading to the second floor rather than the basement.

Retired or not, her mother had led an 'interesting' life, and those instincts hadn't gone away.

"Sure thing, mom."Artemis said, and moved up the stairs as quietly as she could. As she climbed, Artemis's hand slipped behind her, pulling out the concealed hand crossbow she had on her person. Slowly and carefully she cleared the second floor, going room by room until she got to her own. She stood back as she opened the door, revealing nothing-

In the corner of her eye, there was a slight movement, seen through the gap between the opening door and the frame.

Artemis rolled forward, sliding across the floor until she was in a crouch facing back towards the door. In one smooth motion she had her weapon leveled at the figure crouched atop the dresser. But she just barely managed to stop herself from firing when she saw who it was.

"Reflexes are still too slow. But you are getting faster." The woman said, a slight grin on her face. She was dressed in simple jeans and green jacket with a matching hat, dark hair spilling out from underneath it. And while it had been years, there was no mistaking her sister's smug smirk anywhere.

Artemis stared back at the woman incredulously, though she didn't drop her crossbow. "Jade? What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be rotting in a Rhelasian prison?"

"As far as any government is concerned, yes." Jade said coyly, hopping down off the dresser. "So, how have things on the other side of the law been?"

The arm holding the hand crossbow dropped, and the other one rose up to put a hand over her face. "You can not seriously be doing this… Does mom know you're-"

"No, she doesn't." Jade interrupted, her tone more serious. "And she won't find out either."

Artemis just gave her sister a flat look as she stood up. "I'm sure she has a different opinion on that. And you can't stop me from calling out to her right now."

"Maybe," Jade will say, her stance widening a bit. "But then this friendly visit will get a lot less friendly. And that's not something you want to happen, dear sister."

Artemis wasn't cowed, however. "Yeah, well, maybe I'm fine with that. Maybe I'll try to bring you in myself. I've gotten more tricks you haven't seen yet. And if that doesn't impress you, you know I've got the guy who captured you last time on speed dial." She threatened. No need to let her sister know what was happening with Jacob.

Jade actually chuckled."Oh, little kitten's grown out some claws. Well, as much fun as that might be, I'm not sure you'd actually want to win that little tussle either. After all, once I'm in custody, I'd have some interesting things to tell your new friends about you."

"...Go right ahead. They already know." Artemis replied. That… wasn't entirely true. Aside from Jacob, she had only told Donna about her family. But, if it came down to it… Artemis was ready to pull off that band-aid.

Jade was actually surprised by her response, and for a moment studied Artemis carefully. Then, slowly, her posture relaxed, and her expression went from playful to something more serious. "Look," Jade said, her tone matching her now exasperated expression. "We've done our little song and dance, but I'm not just here for fun. I'm here to tell you to stay on your toes."

Artemis snorted. "What, now? I've been a superheroes for months and now you're concerned enough to-"

"Artemis, I'm serious." Jade said, cutting her off. "Things are… starting to escalate on the other side of the fence. The Titans have made some powerful people mad, and said people are running out of options to deal with you. You can choose who you spend your time with, but you should know better than to get hitched too tightly to them. You need to have an exit planned."

Artemis paused before she narrowed her eyes. "...Where's this coming from? Is something about to happen?"

"That's all you're getting from me." Her sister will say firmly. "I'm taking enough of a risk just telling you this. I'm sure you don't think much of me, but I don't want you getting yourself killed either."

Artemis let out something between a groan and a sigh. Figures her sister would pop back into her life just to tell her to abandon what she's currently doing. Even if it was, in theory, good intentioned. "Jade, you know I can't actually do anything if you're that vague. I like where my life is at and I'm willing to fight to keep it."

"Oh come on, Artemis." Jade replied, actually sounding frustrated. "You were raised smarter than that, we both were. Dad was a piece of shit, but he trained us well. Taught us to know when something's hopeless and cut our losses. Your life might be good, but it's not worth dying for." She took a step forward, her eyes hard. "We don't get attached. We get out."

Artemis felt her own frustration build at Jade's words, and when her sister was done a sudden impulse took hold of her. "And what about you?"

Jade leaned in confusion. "What?"

"What's your plan to get out? You can't tell me that everything with your 'job' is looking safe either."

Jade scoffed. "Of course I have an exit plan, who do you think I am?"

"Then take it." Artemis took a step forward, staring defiantly at the other woman. "You can't possibly tell you actually like the people you're working with. Or that the 'work' you're doing for them is meaningful or useful. Hell, I'd say getting put in a Rhelasian prison is a good sign for you to change careers."

Jade arched an eyebrow. "Just because I have an exit doesn't mean it is simple or easy. One doesn't just walk away from this life." Her eyes flickered downward, to where their mother waited, before continuing. "And besides, even if I do get away clean… What then? What do I do with myself? Do you want me to become a hero like you?"

"No, just… anything else." Artemis replied. "There's plenty of other stuff you can do with your life that's not terrorism!"

The thin lipped smile that Jade gave her had a hint of bitterness in it. "You really think that, don't you? It's almost sweet… but I know what I am. I know what our father turned me into. There isn't a different kind of life for me."

"That's the thing Jade: that's what he told you." Artemis pressed. "That's what dad hammered into our heads every time he trained us, to make us more like him. He can't leave that life… but that's not true for you."

The words were spilling out of Artemis, from a place she had been holding onto for months. Ever since she had listened to the message that Jacob had left her since his and Kori's disappearance.

"Artemis, like I told you, I'd never heard about you till I met you. So you know this all comes from me personally: You are better than your father. Even though he 'raised' you, that doesn't mean you're doomed to follow in his footsteps. You can choose who you want to be, and I know you'll choose to be great."

Jacob believed in her. And maybe it was foolish, but she wanted to believe in her sister too.

Jade stared back at her, the silence heavy between. Artemis thought she saw doubt behind her sister's eyes, actual consideration for what she said. Finally, Jade opened her mouth-

"Artemis!" Her mother called from downstairs. "Is everything alright?"

The moment passed as they both looked at the open door and then back at each other. Jade pulled back from her sister. "...See you around Artemis." she said, and before Artemis could say anything the other woman leapt out the open window and out of sight.

Artemis started at the window for a long second before she closed her eyes, feeling a weight settle on her shoulders. "Clear!" She called downstairs. Did I get to her? She wondered as she headed back to the ground floor. I guess I just have to see.

She didn't get too long to think about it though, as her phone rang a few seconds later. She pulled it out and scowled when she saw that it was Calculus calling. It was a bit unfair, but she couldn't keep the growl out of her voice as she answered. "This had better be important."

"Artemis, return to the Mountain immediately. It has been attacked."

The golden light of the Zeta Tube faded as Artemis rushed into the main Mountain chamber, expecting the worst. She had been here when the androids had assaulted the Mountain, saw the damage they had been able to inflict even with all the defenses. Said defenses were even beefier than they were before, so she was dreading whatever aftermath she'd find from something that managed to get through that.

But as she looked around… it wasn't too bad. Yes, there was a hole in the ceiling through which she could see the sky, and a few bits of slagged metal where she knew the hidden turret emplacements were, but she had expected everything to be on fire. The few turrets that were still functional briefly locked on to her before resuming their sweep. She frowned and looked around, trying to find the reason she had been called so urgently, but all she heard were people arguing at the end of one of the connecting tunnels.

With nothing else for it, she hustled towards the voices, and found Robin, Kaldur, and the cloudy form of Calculus yelling at one another. Well, really it was just Robin yelling at Calculus, and she only partially caught what he was saying. "-how?! The thing was in a random service shaft behind a fake wall! How could he-"

"Hey!" Artemis called out, causing them to turn as she approached. "What the hell happened?!"

"Artemis," Kaldur greeted her, taking a step forward before he winced. She noticed the bandages running up his leg, but he ignored it to say "The Mountain was attacked. The defenses were able to repel the invader, but not before he penetrated into the service shafts."

"The invader gained entry to the Mountain via slipping in through some form of shadow dimension." Calculus's voice came from the nano swarm. "We apologize that we were not able to repel the invader sooner. We have some practice in suppressing the magic of others, but it is mostly focused on other Kingdoms. We were able to keep him away from critical areas, but that is not what he was after. Rest assured, we have analyzed the method of entry, and will have countermeasures in place soon."

"Wait, magic?" Artemis asked in confusion. "Just who hit us? Was it Klarion?" The list of magical entities that had the power to punch a hole in the Mountain was very small, and as far as she knew the Witch Boy was the only one who'd have the desire to.

But Robin shook his head. "Nah, it was Wotan. Big time immortal sorcerer that's tangled with the League before."

Artemis blinked. She knew of Wotan, Kori had made them all at least skim the League's database for major threats. That said…"But we've never even run into him. Why would he come after us?"

Robin just growled. "Oh no, it wasn't us he was after."

Kaldur gave her a pained look. "The Helmet of Fate. It's gone."

=====A=====

A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who have been keeping the TvTropes page up to date, I really appreciate it.

Secondly, a kakapo is a dumb flightless parrot. Noah's basically calling Komand'r a stupid cripple. And yes, that is his pet name for her, and yes, he had made sure she knows what a kakapo is.

Thirdly, you're probably all wondering where I've been this time. Well, I don't have any new information for you, just confirmation of an unfortunate fact: I've crossed that threshold in my thirties where I start loosing mental power in the late evening. This is a problem here because 1. writing has always taken a lot of mental effort for me to do, and 2. I've always done most of my writing just before I go to bed. And that just... doesn't really work anymore. I can still kind of do it, but the last several months proved it's a much slower process.

So, I'm trying to figure out if there's a lifestyle change or something to fix this, because I want my late evenings back. If that doesn't work, I'll have to sacrifice a different hobby I do during the day to keep writing at any kind of speed. Not something I'm looking forward to.

We'll just have to see.