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"Everyone, we have had the sex!"

Artemis froze with the bagel halfway to her mouth, slowly turning towards the doorway to the common area. Standing there were three people. Donna was slightly off to the side, facepalming. Jacob was standing still, looking a little sheepish. And hanging off his arm was Kori, who looked immensely pleased with herself.

Sitting on the couch nearby, Connor and M'gann were looking at them with equal expressions of confusion. "Uh, what?" Connor asked.

Before Kori could elaborate, Donna interrupted. "Kori we're going to need to have a long talk on what is socially acceptable to blurt out in polite company."

"But I didn't say this in public," Kori said. "These are our closest friends, who would want to know about this joyous moment. Jacob explained to me-"

"Do not pin this on me," Jacob protested, mostly in response to the dirty look Donna was giving him. "I just told her it was ok to talk about it with the people we knew."

"Wait, you're serious?" Artemis said incredulously, turning away from the island countertop she was sitting at. "You guys actually..."

Kori nodded vigorously. "Yes! Several times! We-"

"Nope!" Connor quickly stood up. "Nope! Not sticking around for this!" The boy promptly turned and walked out of the room.

M'gann watched him leave before turning back to Kori. Her face blushed green, and she twiddled her fingers together. "So..."

Kori grinned and hopped over the back of the couch, and began animatedly describing things which Artemis forced herself to tune out. "...Ok I do not want details," Artemis said, turning back to Jacob as he and Donna approached the countertop. "But… how? You couldn't do that before you left."

"Magic!" He said cheerfully, plucking a bagel out of the bag in front of Artemis. "More specifically, a blessing from Gaia. Kori impressed her enough that she gave me the same treatment as Wonder Woman. Mostly."

"What do you mean 'mostly'?"

He gestured vaguely with the knife he had picked up, already half covered in cream cheese. "Well, my body hasn't suddenly been turned into flesh and blood. I'm still the mass of hyper-advanced nanomachines you all know and love. I just got something of a… software update. The enchantment the deity placed on me is drawing connections between spiritual memories and my current body. In short, because I used to be organic, I can feel those sensations again. Though there are a few 'quirks', given that a few things physically don't match up."

Donna leaned against the counter. "Speaking of which, didn't you have enough on the island?" She gestured to the bagel in his hand. "Do you even feel hunger?"

"I'm… still figuring that out. I don't really feel hunger, but I've still been experiencing 'cravings' for lack of a better term. And on that note, while the Amazons did have excellent food," He held up the finished bagel. "They didn't have a good shmear." He then slowly took a bit out of the bagel, and his eyes closed in bliss.

Against her better judgement, Artemis stole a glance at Kori and M'gann. It looked like Kori had moved on to adding hand gestures to her demonstration. Artemis had no idea what it meant, but M'ganns entire face had turned dark green, and she was covering her mouth with a wide eyed expression.

Looking back at her friend consuming his breadstuff, Artemis felt slightly conflicted. Mostly she was happy for him, of course. He didn't like to talk about it, but Artemis knew how much anxiety Jacob had over not having the ability to feel things correctly.

But on the other hand… eww.

So, lacking a way to resolve that emotional conflict, Artemis fell back on her old standby: poke fun at him."So how do you feel about finally losing your V-card?" She said with a smirk.

He started to protest, but stopped. "Hmm… is virginity per-body? Because if the bodies are anatomically different enough, I suppose a case could be made-"

"Never mind, you ruined it." She grumbled, noticing that Kori and M'gann had now moved to the kitchen. They hadn't stopped talking but Kori was rummaging through the cupboards and putting a lot of junk food into a very large bowl. She looked back at Jacob."I had a whole line up of innuendos to imply you were bad at it, but you've managed to take all the fun out of it."

Jacob arched an eyebrow, but this comment also got Kori attention. "I keep hearing that," She said, walking out of the kitchen with the bowl in one hand and the other planted her hip. "That implication that men are not good at sex. How is that absurd notion so pervasive on this planet?"

Artemis didn't say anything, and Donna gave Kori a look of 'oh you poor innocent thing'. This caused her to look towards Jacob for an explanation, which he hesitantly gave. "That's not literally true, but there is an unfortunate grain of truth to it. The thing is, the majority of human women can't climax from penetrative sex alone-"

"What? That's awful." Kori said, her hand coming up to her mouth.

He nodded. "And since humans are kind of bad at communicating, and since young men often just try the simplest thing, a lot of women's first experiences are… poor."

Kori was downcast for a few moments before she perked up. "Well, I suppose that explains why you used your hands so-"

"OH MY GOD PLEASE STOP TALKING!" Artemis shouted before she closed her eyes and put her hands to her ears. Maybe if she wished hard enough, she could just make this entire conversation disappear.

It was a good thirty seconds before she opened her eyes again, and when she found Jacob and Kori had disappeared, she thought it might have actually worked. Artemis looked around in confusion before she saw Kori heading in the direction of her room, foodstuffs in one arm and a nonplussed Jacob slung over her other shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Welp… goodbye I guess." He said before they moved out of sight.

Next to her, M'gann coughed awkwardly. "I need to go… look some things up." She muttered, before she hurriedly flew off and disappeared.

Artemis looked after them for a moment before she groaned and slumped down on the countertop. Donna gave her a bemused look. "Not exactly a normal group of friends, huh?"

Artemis blew out some air. "Normal's overrated, but this is not what I had in mind when I joined up with these guys. They didn't have to throw all their… personal stuff at me."

The other woman gave her an odd look. "Are you… jealous?"

Artemis sat up straight. "What, for him!? No! Those two have been making eyes at each other since I met them! Besides, I really can't think of him like that."

"Fair enough, but it sounds like you're taking this a bit more personally than you should."

Artemis stared at the other girl before she sighed, sitting in sullen silence for a few more seconds before blurting out "Everyone's hooking up! I mean, those two were already together, but now they're just reminding me that somehow I'm still single. I know it's dumb, but it still bugs me."

Surprisingly, Donna groaned in response. "Try spending three days with the two lovebirds on vacation." She pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. "I swear, you needed a magically forged crowbar to pry them apart. Which I actually found and used at one point."

Artemis blinked. Donna had always been so collected when she was around her, but now... "You're sounding a little jealous about it too." She remarked.

That brought Donna up short. "Err… not really. I just ended up having to babysit them a lot."

"Uh huh." Artemis said skeptically.

Donna hesitated for a moment longer before she sighed. "Alright, maybe a little. I think guys my age are really immature, and I'm pretty sure I intimidate the rest away."

"Preach," Artemis said, propping her head with her hand. "Most of the guys at my school are immature and little snobs. The tales I could tell..."

Donna waved her hand. "Let's not let this devolve into a pity party. That will just turn into us trying to one up each other with how rough we had it growing up."

Silence settled between the two of them. Slowly but surely, both of them lost the battle to keep the smirk off their faces.

"Orphan, never knew my birth parents. Bounced around from foster home to foster home for most of my life."

"Deadbeat dad. Runaway sister. Mom's in a wheelchair."

A beat, and the two giggled. Artemis leaned back in her seat. "Not exactly a normal group of superheroes, huh?"

"Oh, I'm sure tragic backstories are a dime a dozen among heroes, even if ours are rather mundane." Donna said back. "If anything, it just proves we're 'Titans of Justice'."

Artemis groaned, remembering what Jacob had said during Donna's test. "Don't encourage him."

"Well, you have to admit," Donna said. "It has a nice ring to it."

I would never threaten you.

Days after he had met the man, Machina's words sat in the back of Luthor's mind. A slight frown crossed his face, and the drink in his hand went untouched as he gazed out over the Metropolis skyline. It wasn't the first time he had retired to his private lounge at the end of a day to puzzle out an issue that vexed him. But it had been a while since he had spent several days in a row on the same issue. Funnily enough, the arrival of the Alien was another time it happened.

Now though, it was a different superhero that had his focus. Luthor would have said that Machina was not what he expected, but frankly, he had not known what to expect of him to begin with. The main reason Luthor met him in person was to get an idea of what kind of person he was, so that he could be properly predicted and accounted for in their plans. Machina was not exactly chaotic in his actions, but his behavior thus far was atypical for a superhero. And what Luthor could glean from the man…

Luthor had found that superheroes had a force of personality about them. It made sense, given how it took a certain kind of person to throw on a garish costume and risk their lives for no compensation. He had seen for himself how the Alien could take command of a room, and how the Amazonian Princess naturally drew everyone's attention when she spoke. Even Batman (from what he had been told) had an intensity about him that couldn't be ignored.

Machina… did not have that. Aside from his impressive physique (artificial as it was) Machina gave the impression of a relatively normal man. He seemed intelligent and focused, but not the same level of genius that Kord or Serling possessed. And yet that was entirely at odds with what the man had accomplished. It wasn't the first time Luthor had seen such a difference in presentation and capability, however.

Machina reminded Luthor of an assassin.

Not like famous 'super' assassins, who were driven by ego or fantic devotion. And certainly not like the low level thugs employed by organized crime. No, he reminded Luthor of the middle sort, the kind he liked to employ when he needed some discrete work done. They were, to a one, polite, professional, and most importantly, unassuming. You could have an entire conversation with one and it would barely stick out in your memory. And that was all the better for them to do their job.

And since Machina had proven he was quite willing to go farther than his fellow superheroes, he was shaping up to be particularly dangerous if left unchecked. Which was a problem, as each attempt to check him thus far he had resisted or adapted to. Luthor was starting to worry that the direct approach was going to require increasing amounts of escalation each time they failed. At this point it seems elimination is the best direct option, he mulled. He knew that Calculator and The Brain were working on ways to control him, but he had proven resilient to past attempts. Given their ultimate plans, it would be best to nip this in the bud.

Luthor sighed. This would be an argument, he just knew it. There were many advantages to allying yourself with powerful and like-minded individuals, but one of the downsides was that it could be difficult to get everyone on the same page. Egos could clash, they would each go for the plan they thought was best, and as a result they would interfere with each other. Would that there was some other way to just remove the man from superheroing for a while-

He drew up short. That… could work. He turned on his heel and walked from the lounge, moving through the building to head to a particular elevator. Once inside, he pressed several of the buttons in a particular sequence, holding his thumb down on the last button for it to scan his biometrics. In short order he was headed to the depths of the building, and he stepped out of the elevator into his private communications room.

He punched in a few commands on the keyboard, and the machines hummed for a few moments before the image of the Brain popped up on the screen. The cylindrical body was pointed towards an array of devices in front of it, but he still answered "Luthor. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could discuss some changes to operations." He had picked the Brain to bring this to first as he was one of the more logical members of the Light. If Luthor could bring him around it would make presenting to the rest of their cohorts much easier. "I have an option for dealing with Machina in the short term."

"Can this wait? I am observing Ocean Master as he engages in the ritual for Operation Midnight."

Luthor felt a sudden burst of alarm. "What, already? Are we accelerating the time table?"

"No, these are just preliminary tests." The Brain assured. "To ensure that the full ritual will be controllable. The margin for error is slim, after all." A pause. "Would you like to observe as well?"

Luthor calmed down, and considered for a moment. Once the Brain got caught up in an experiment, it was next to impossible to divert his attention. And since this seemed like the sort of thing he should be aware of in case things go wrong… "Yes, I would."

After a short wait another one of the screens around Luthor came to life, this one showing the bridge of an Atlantian vessel. There were several men in concealing garb meaning stations, but the screen's focus was on Ocean Master, who sat in a throne-like chair in the center. "I wouldn't have thought you would be interested in the arcane, Luthor." Ocean Master remarked, shifting his grip on the trident in his hand. "Your speciality is surface-world technology, after all."

"I had a spare moment, and I'm not adverse to broadening my horizons." In truth, Luthor had never cared for how 'messy' magic could get, even if he was willing to employ specialists in its use. He had been forced to do just that lately with Kord's interest in the subject leading into possible research. It wouldn't do for LexCorp to be so behind one of its competitors.

Ocean Master grunted, and fell into silence. They didn't have to wait long before the ship arrived at its destination, one of the numerous deep valleys that littered the ocean floor, nestled against a mountain that rose sharply from the ground. Ocean Master and his cultists departed, the camera view following them somehow. Given the Brains had likely set up this arrangement, Luthor guessed that it was attached to some kind of drone.

He watched the group plunge into the water. It was dark of course, the only illumination coming from the glowing orbs held by Ocean Master's followers and the lights coming off the ships. Sunlight couldn't make it this far under the surface, and the illumination of Atlantian cities was miles away. As such it was next to impossible to see any spot that wasn't within the immediate area. That changed as the group swam down to the ocean floor, moving towards the base of the closest mountain. Some of the cultists cast yet more orbs which moved away from them, some moving upwards to illuminate the cliff they were moving towards. And Luthor saw it for what it was.

It wasn't a mountain. It was a temple the size of one.

"What is this place?" Luthor found himself wondering out loud.

To his surprise, Ocean Master answered him. "It has no name." He said, approaching part of the abstract fresco which stretched endlessly in both directions. "It's too old for such things. This place is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Royal line. These structures are older than Atlantis, older than any civilization. They belong to something that came before, something that lived in the deep."

"...Which was?"

"The descriptions were not precise, and I believe that was intentional." The man's hand traced the image of a trident on the wall. "These beings were utterly alien to early Atlantians, and that combined with their power made people wary. Before the Sinking, the Royal line came to an 'arrangement' with them, though what exactly the terms were is lost to time." He frowned. "So the records say, though I doubt any Atlantian has ever actually met one. Just some fanciful tale that ignores how this civilization was long dormant before Atlantis ever existed."

"Dormant?" Luthor asked. "What happened to them?"

"They're sleeping." Ocean Master said. "The reason is unknown, but I imagine it made this all the easier to take from them." He held his trident aloft, and it began to glow with a golden light. The trident image in the fresco glowed in kind, and a moment later that glow spread to the a ring of symbols on the wall. The stone inside of that circle then… melted, for lack of a better term. The rock flowed like a viscous substance, pulled inward until there was a massive circular hole in the cliff.

One of the orbs of light floated forward and Luthor saw a dark tunnel, the walls lined with elaborate ridges and patterns that reminded him of coral. It felt… wrong somehow, like he was looking down the gullet of some alien creature. It didn't stop Ocean Master though, as he and his retinue swam forward into the darkness.

The tunnel led into something of a maze, with more tunnels, and corridors, and empty spherical rooms branching in every direction. The maze was three dimensional, and with only the drone's perspective Luthor was having trouble keeping track of the structure. Ocean Master repeatedly pulled out an ancient scroll with intricate designs, looking at it every time they came to a junction. A map of some kind?

After a few minutes, the Brain muted their connection to Ocean Master. "It seems we have a moment, Luthor. At least until he finds his target." The Brain stated. "In broad strokes, what changes to our operations did you have in mind?"

"I want to initiate 'Curfew' protocol on the team of young heroes. Just before Operation Midnight begins."

The Brain took a moment to process this. "You wish to remove them as a potential variable?"

"I wish to remove Machina, specifically." Luthor qualified. "The team itself is troublesome enough, but I feel we need to break Machina's momentum and keep him occupied for a while. At least until we have a plan we're certain will deal with him."

"...There are several of our members who wanted to make use of the young heroes, rather than eliminating them as a threat entirely."

"I don't think that is feasible, at least with its current state." Luthor said. "Our sources indicate that in addition to their competence, they are very trusting of one another. It will be very difficult to find weaknesses to exploit. There will likely be other opportunities for control later."

Again, the Brain considered this. "Logical, but why just before Operation Midnight? Doing so will give it less impact."

"True, Midnight will quickly overshadow it, but the League will also not have any time to respond." Luthor pointed out. "Afterwards we can focus the media's attention to keep them off balance."

The Brain was silent for a full minute, the only sound coming from him being the hum of his chassis. Eventually, he said "Your idea has merit. Barring new information, I will support this suggestion when brought before the others."

Luthor held back a hum of satisfaction. "I thought you'd see it my way."

They turned their attention back to the drone's feed in time to see Ocean Master's group come to a stop in a large hall, larger than the tunnels they had been moving through before. This one had large circular doors on both the walls and ceiling, but what drew Luthor's attention was the massive gap in the floor. The almost artful ridges on the floor converged on the 10 meter hole, rising up as jagged teeth before spiraling downward into darkness. It looked like a maw, frozen just before it could consume whatever fell in.

One of the cultists began drifting his light towards it, but Ocean Master stopped him. "No. Not there. That is where it sleeps."

Luthor spoke up. "It?"

"The god of this civilization. The focal point of all it's might. It is written that it was powerful enough to command all the oceans of the Earth."

Luthor straightened. "That's what you're after."

"No," Ocean Master replied, and to Luthor's surprise he drifted away from the hole. "Waking the god of the old ones was written to bring about the end of all other civilizations. While I'm sure the myths are exaggerated somewhat, I do not care to pit my will against it. Besides, I do not need the god itself."

He floated upwards to the door and the ceiling, and using his trident he opened it like he did the outer wall. The new space turned out to be a chamber so massive that Luthor couldn't see the walls. But the light from the orbs showed that it was not empty. Floating in the water, lined up in row after row, were sarcophagi. Made from rock, and numbering in the thousands.

"Just it's followers."

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