Before any mission, Batman took the time to meditate. While to most people meditation was an attempt to reach inner peace, it wasn't so for Bruce. He meditated to reach for his inner demons, to rattle their cage and draw strength from them.

Tonight was going to be a difficult night. Batman was sending his troops on a suicide mission. Then again, superhero business was mostly like a suicide mission. One never knew if he/she would survive the next battle, the next supervillain or the next worldwide crisis. In that regard, tonight didn't feel any different from his usual patrol in Gotham or a mission with the Justice League.

But fighting on Apokolips was different. Here even powerful meta-humans like Static or Ms Marvel were nothing short of insects to the surprisingly vigorous wildlife that roamed the Planet's wastelands and giant sewers. Every single step that separated the Slave Pits from Darkseid's palace could be their last, but they had to do it and they had a good plan.

Although some people on his team disagreed.

"Why don't you want me to come with you?" complained Carol, interrupting his meditation.

"Two reasons: one, you don't have any equipment that Darkseid could have kept as a trophy; two, we don't want to reveal too much about our plan and it is in our best interest to keep a few spare trump cards," he explained without looking at her.

"Still, are you sure the six of you will be enough?" she asked. She was sincerely concerned for her old and new friends.

Bruce understood her distress. They had all lost people close to their hearts and the last thing they had left was each other. Bruce sighed and stood up, looking at his small team that was getting ready then back at those they were leaving behind.

"If we are to fail, at least some of you will be left to carry on with plan B," Batman justified.

"But you're our leader. You shouldn't be running around trying to kill yourself," argued Firestorm.

"I'm the only one who has ever been on Apokolips before. I know the layout of the palace and its surroundings by heart. And if Darkseid manages to capture me, he won't kill me. I'm his new pet project after all," Bruce said casually. "And I can use it to our advantage if I have to distract him so that Rogue and Superboy can make their escape."

All his allies frowned, but they all agreed on one thing. "It is a good plan," Carol conceded.

"And should I not come back, Static will be in charge of the team," Batman announced to a stunned audience, which answered with a series of "Me!?", "Him!?" and "What the fuck!?". Batman glared at them to shut them up.

Without another comment, he put on a makeshift Bat-suit, made of scavenged parts of Apokoliptian armors, and started to walk towards the exit.

"Let's go," he ordered and Rogue, Superboy, Power Man, Hawkeye and Firestorm followed him out.


It took them twenty hours to reach the underground levels of Darkseid's palace through the labyrinthine sewers that connected it to the Slave Pits. While Rogue and Mystique were able to travel uninterrupted by morphing into Hellhounds, the others didn't enjoy this privilege and had to fight their way through hordes of predators. Their plan involved them to split into two groups at an intersection.

While Firestorm, Hawkeye and Power Man made their way to the Armory to get their hands on some special weaponry, Batman, Rogue and Superboy would go to Darkseid's Trophy Room to get back some of their own equipment and draw away the attention from the other group.

"Good luck," he wished to the other group, before Rogue and Superboy followed him to the upper levels of the palace.