Jon shook his head. "Couldn't find anything, but Damian says the woman is skilled in magic!"
Rubbing his temples, Batman told himself things hadn't reached the worst-case scenario yet. He trusted his instincts and forced himself to calm down.
Superman had confirmed there was no match on Earth, which meant the two definitely weren't from this planet. After all, Kalibak stood over six and a half feet tall with a massive head and a beard that merged seamlessly into his hair—features far too distinctive for any Earthling.
"They don't seem like aliens either—at least the woman doesn't." Superman seemed to read Batman's train of thought and offered a timely reminder. As an old friend—and with his own son involved—he'd thrown himself into this wholeheartedly, setting aside even the Fortress of Solitude. In the barely three minutes since receiving the news, he'd already done an enormous amount of legwork. Seeing Batman listening carefully, he continued.
"In my experience, Thea usually knows the weird ones. But she and Diana aren't on Earth right now. I contacted her secretary—apparently she's not even in this universe."
"The White House might know something, but given my... complicated public profile, it's not easy for me to show up there." Superman offered a suggestion.
Batman pulled his cowl back on. He gave a noncommittal nod of thanks. "I can find her."
With that, he climbed into the Batwing, opened the cave's launch tunnel, and shot toward the horizon.
He entered the Hall of Justice, teleported to the New Continent Magic School.
Malcolm was having tea with Madame Xanadu. Astrology and divination—two disciplines almost nobody studied anymore. The modern worldview simply didn't align. You'd say a certain star portended disaster; they'd insist it was just a comet. Completely different wavelengths.
Neither of them pushed the issue. If students wanted to learn, fine. If not, no loss. Far from the noise of the world, the two spent their days stargazing and playing cards—a thoroughly comfortable retirement.
As if sensing something, Malcolm's eyes turned razor-sharp in an instant. His hand flicked out, trailing white light.
A throwing knife hissed from his fingers. Batman, climbing through the window, caught it by the handle without even looking.
Both the throw and the catch used League of Assassins techniques—neither man had planned it, but neither was surprised.
"Batman? What an honor." Malcolm recognized him immediately. They'd never crossed paths directly, but each knew the other existed. Still, Malcolm was puzzled—what was the Bat doing here?
"Where's Thea? I need her urgently." Batman's voice was hard as iron.
"Thea? The President's daughter?" Malcolm put on a perfectly calibrated expression of surprise, as though Batman had said something very strange. "She's one of your Justice League people, isn't she? You're asking the wrong man, hero."
Batman paused briefly. "I know what she is to you. I've investigated quite a bit."
Malcolm's smile didn't reach his eyes. "What a coincidence—so have I. I know your real identity."
The two squared off like drawn blades. Both had been shattered by the loss of loved ones. Both had trained with the League of Assassins. Their life trajectories had diverged sharply afterward, but right now, barely two sentences in, they looked ready to come to blows.
Fortunately, Madame Xanadu was the rational one—perhaps she'd foreseen this, perhaps she'd simply read the cards.
She asked with unflappable calm, "Batman, what do you need Thea for?"
"I need to ask about two people's whereabouts."
"I'll say it again—I don't know any Thea. You've got the wrong person." Malcolm's tone was ice.
"She's your daughter. I refuse to believe you don't have a way to reach her." Batman matched him degree for degree.
Malcolm's voice dropped even colder. "Mr. Wayne, you're crossing a line."
Madame Xanadu—normally the picture of serenity—nearly covered her face. Were these two born under clashing stars? Where was all this hostility coming from?
She hurried to smooth things over, and only then did both men stand down.
Batman wasn't usually this short-tempered. Today, worry for his son had him climbing the walls.
Malcolm, deep down, was still that villainous mastermind. The memory of Ra's al Ghul's expectations for Batman made his skin crawl.
That neither of them had drawn steel and started sparring was already a show of restraint.
Once she learned Batman was looking for his son, Madame Xanadu spoke gently to both men, coaxing them toward cooperation. Malcolm finally let out a grudging huff. He produced a scrying basin, filled it with clear water, and began chanting—over and over.
Connecting Earth to the Underworld was extraordinarily difficult. Madame Xanadu wasn't strong in magic herself, though she was considerably better than Malcolm. The two combined their power, pushing hard, but the channel still wouldn't open.
Left with no choice, they called in Constantine, Papa Midnite, Zatanna, and Mister E.
Six practitioners working in concert—looking for all the world like they were summoning a final boss—finally pried open a connection to the Underworld.
"You opened a channel this big just to reach me?" Thea blinked, bewildered. "Wait—Batman's there too?"
The passage she'd left Malcolm was only meant for emergency voice messages. These six had brute-forced it wider—what was supposed to be a phone line had been blown out into a video call.
What was on the other side? Dim and desolate. Constantine had been to Heaven, been to Hell, but never to the Underworld. Curiosity seized him, and he craned his neck to get a better look at the far side.
Batman hip-checked Constantine out of the way, pulled up an image, and pointed at Kalibak and Circe. "Do you know these two?"
Thea stared for a moment, studying the image. "I do. The man is Kalibak. The woman—I haven't met her personally, but Diana has. Judging by the outfit, that should be Circe."
Batman let out a breath of relief. Names meant he could track them. He pressed on immediately.
"Where are they?"
Thea answered honestly. "Kalibak is on Apokolips. He's Darkseid's eldest son. As for Circe, Har—give me a second, let me check."
The Underworld's population was now under Two-Face's charge. As a former district attorney turned crime boss, the man could navigate both sides of the law with equal ease—his organizational skills were formidable. Strong at administration, weak in combat. Harvey Dent had essentially become the Underworld's chief of staff.
Thea started to summon Two-Face, then remembered Batman would recognize him. Explaining why Harvey Dent was working for her would be an absolute nightmare. She quickly changed tack.
Less than three seconds later, she reappeared. "Circe is also on Apokolips. What happened?"
Batman pressed his lips together and said nothing. Malcolm pretended ignorance, sipping his tea. Madame Xanadu, ever kind, recounted the full situation.
"Damian's missing, and you suspect Apokolips is behind it?" Thea had assumed her butterfly effect was large enough that certain events simply wouldn't recur. She hadn't expected this kind of thing to happen anyway. So the next step was obviously Batman storming Apokolips?
Sure enough, Batman refused her offer of help, stating he would find his son himself.
"I genuinely can't get away right now—Hell is launching a major offensive against my position... And sending my clone to Apokolips wouldn't work either. My grudge with them runs too deep..."