Diana picked up the photograph and studied it twice. As the new Goddess of Arts and Literature, she noticed that the cave painting showed real skill—a few economical lines had captured a fleeting moment with impressive fidelity.
A spacecraft had visited Earth in a distant age. It had seized two unlucky individuals, but as it burned through the atmosphere, fragments of its hull had scattered across the surface below.
"That metal gave the ancient tribes extraordinary power," Thea said. "They vanished from our history and set out for worlds of their own. After they left, the remaining populations reproduced and diversified—and that lineage became us, the modern human race."
"The Mu civilization. Then the Gendayans, gifted with psionic ability. The Lemurians, masters of mental control. Those three prehistoric civilizations form a clean sequence." She tapped the photograph. "But between the fourth civilization—the warrior Atlanteans—and us, the fifth-generation humans, there's a gap. That gap exists because of this ship."
Thea felt a quiet melancholy about it. From her personal vantage point, the reality Bruce had altered was actually the real one. If the Hawk Tribe and the Bear Tribe had never left, current history would have been unrecognizable.
"You had me investigate and authenticate a Bat Tribe that straddles fact and myth," Barbara said. "What impact does it actually have on the present?" She was Batgirl—she preferred enemies she could see and hit. The concept of "altered realities" gave her a headache.
"My read is that the Bat Tribe is coming back. They represent a dark force that is still gathering strength—once they're ready, it will mean catastrophe for Earth and for the wider universe. We're not talking about a distant timeline. They have a beacon in our world; their attention has been fixed here for some time."
Barbara worked through this slowly, brow creased. After half a minute: "But Bruce only just got back…"
"That's how time works," Diana said. "From our perspective, yes—Bruce returned recently. But measured on the actual timeline, the Bat Tribe is something from the deep past."
"Exactly. And it's not only the Bat Tribe." Thea held up a photograph. "I believe the Hawk Tribe is about to return as well. We have a Hawk Tribe beacon right here." The photo showed a man and a woman—Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara, unmistakably.
"What's the plan?" Diana asked.
Thea already had her answer. "The world tied to the Bat Tribe is still in chaos—I haven't found the right path to it yet. But we can scout Hawk World first. Survey the conditions there, and determine whether it poses any threat to Earth."
In her memory, that world—honestly "Hawk World" was a generous name for it; more like a bird enclosure—wasn't home to anyone particularly formidable. But she wanted to understand how the place was structured. Her own pocket world currently had its stone golem gone, and life there was beginning to develop in its own directions; it was a rough start toward becoming a small world, but she had no clear sense of where it was heading. Hawk World could be useful to observe.
And if conditions allowed, she could try absorbing Hawk World's source essence into her own.
Barbara understood that pitch without any ambiguity. Going on the offensive ahead of the threat was her kind of approach—a significant improvement over poring over library archives. She was in.
Thea thought over the scope. Not a heavy operation. Not especially dangerous. She decided to bring the entire female wing of the Justice League—make it a group outing.
Three days later, a collection of heroines assembled in Central City.
The reason for Central City was that Thea had no way to locate Hawk World on her own. Minor realms were numerous—some formed naturally over time, some carved out by powerful individuals—and without coordinates, getting through the door wasn't feasible.
Central City was the home of an absurdly powerful teleportation specialist: Vibe, Cisco Ramon.
Ordinary teleportation wasn't the problem—Thea could handle it, Raven could, Diana could manage with effort. But sensing the destination at all before opening the way was Cisco's particular gift.
Searching and opening portals—his ability was genuinely exceptional, held back only by his own stamina. Most of its potential was still dormant.
Since S.T.A.R. Labs had been destroyed by Scarface, Team Flash was operating out of this moderately-sized apartment as their field command. Cisco and Caitlin's supervisors had all cleared out, leaving nobody to issue paychecks. Iris was still in the thirtieth century, and even if she came back, the job was gone. Wally West was unemployed, with no savings to fall back on. Bart Allen was basically a walking child-labor violation; no legitimate employer would touch him.
They were all surviving on Barry's police salary from Central City PD. That was a fairly grim picture.
Given that Hawk World was likely to involve some fighting, Felicity—with no combat capability—was kept on Earth. Batwoman, who had announced her retirement, along with Aquaman's companions Yawara and Cassina, who had gone into seclusion together, also didn't make the trip.
The remaining heroines came in full.
Thea, Diana, Supergirl, Batgirl, Catwoman, Shado, Stargirl, Wonder Girl, Black Canary, Zatanna—from the Justice League International, Fire and Ice, whose friendship was starting to look less than platonic—plus Caitlin Snow, a.k.a. Killer Frost, from Team Flash, Mera, Lois Lane, Cassandra Cain, Raven, and the newly inducted Green Lantern Jessica Cruz.
Eighteen heroines total, plus Pandora—longtime companion to the group, present at more than a few legendary events—and the mission's guiding beacons: Hawkman Carter Hall and Hawkgirl Kendra Saunders.
"Oh—I should go take a walk. I heard there might be a fire on East Street." The sheer crowd—especially the crowd of women—made Flash flee the moment he surveyed the scene.
Cisco also wanted to leave. Then Pandora, Hawkgirl, and the full assembly of twenty armed women turned to look at him—swords, shields, weapons in hand. He'd spent years building up a certain equanimity. It dissolved on the spot.
"Clang." Hawkgirl produced her mace. It was two sizes smaller than the one she'd used with the Star Sapphire Corps—the old version had crushed heads like fruit; now it barely looked fit for hammering nails—but she was holding it right in front of him.
Cisco nearly leapt out of his chair. What was she planning to do with that?
Caitlin and Thea held back their laughter while someone walked him through the actual purpose of the gathering.
Ancient civilizations! The phrase hit him like a spotlight. His curiosity immediately overwhelmed everything else. He desperately wanted to come—but twenty women and one man was a statistically unusual arrangement…
"Come along," Hawkman said, with genuine sincerity. "There should be a great many ancient ruins." Cisco noted, belatedly, that Hawkman had clearly identified him as a fellow man in a sea of women and was making a direct appeal to solidarity. His intelligence was sufficient to read the subtext. Carter Hall also felt outnumbered.
He weighed his options. Eventually, the pull of a prehistoric civilization outcompeted the social awkwardness. It'll be fine if I keep my head down, he told himself.
Thea gave a quick rundown of the mission.
"Trace an extradimensional space through the metal?" he confirmed, and closed his eyes to begin.