"So, what's our next move?" Donna asked that evening around the campfire with the others. They had spent most of the day reviewing what Kara and Keitaro had observed about the new timeline as opposed to the original. "I mean, I know the ultimate goal is to find out who messed up the timeline and fix it, but how do we start?"
"I'm not sure. Honestly, the fact you all were there threw me for a loop. I mean, as a rule the only ones stuck in the Source Wall tried to breech it in some way. And I know none of you tried that," Keitaro replied with a concerned expression.
"Well I mean, technically Uncle Barry did manage to get through it once. But I know I don't remember trying to mess with reality," Wally chipped in.
"Which means either we're missing some key memories, or someone put us there," Greta added with a brooding gaze into the fire.
"But why? Why remove some of us when it was so easy to rewrite everything else? I mean it's not like Diana having a sister or Barry having a nephew that was Kid Flash before Bart should really alter things that much. Should it?" Donna asked.
"A bigger concern might be who rather than why. I mean look at the class of villains that usually pull things like this. We're talking a Crisis level event here. That kind of power is nothing to scoff at," Kara added.
"Okay, so that only narrows things down to about half of the top League baddies then," Wally interjected sarcastically.
"Wally," Donna admonished at his tone.
"No Donna, I'm serious here. Look at the likely suspects. The Anti-Monitor comes to mind. Or Monarch if Hawk went nuts again. Parallax is another possibility. Or Necron if he's trying another Black Lantern run. And there's always ol' Rockhead waiting in the wings," Wally shot back.
"As much as the thought of defending him disgusts me, this isn't Darkseid's style. Besides if he could rewrite all of reality like this we'd be neck deep in parademons already," Kara countered.
"He might be awake though. Or he might be able to regain himself," Keitaro added with a worried expression. "I mean it was the energy that I absorbed from his Omega Beams that helped me fight it off and free you all."
"We think it could be the omega beams. It could be an ability of your own. I mean, we found your ancestors ship was from New Genesis even if he was Kryptonian, remember? That's how we found the mother box. For all we know, you might be a sliver of New God or something and have a non-kryptonian ability. Or a natural psychic gift or something. Let's not give Darkseid any credit unless we're sure," Kara replied.
"Either way, even if it us just a New God thing, Darkseid could still wake up. And I don't know if this world where everybody but Bats seems to be starting from scratch could handle him," Wally fretted.
"Which raises another issue. Should we try to contact New Genesis to see if they were affected? I mean, having Orion, Barda, and Mister Miracle with us wouldn't hurt," Donna suggested.
"No, if we're not on his radar that would definitely attract Darkseid's attention," Kara replied.
"But we could do with some more allies. Maybe ones closer to home. I mean if I'm right and Kanako and Motoko are awake that's two more right there. We can try to wake up the others too. Having, if not the whole League, then at least the other charter members would help a lot," Keitaro added.
"We could try to wake up the Titans too, maybe," Wally offered.
"That might not be such a good idea, Wally," Donna countered?
"Why not?" Wally all but demanded.
"Wally, think about it. From all accounts Roy and Jason are teamed up with Kory right now and are seen as something of heroes. With what they've been through I would think that's a step up from where Roy and Jay were before. And at least Starfire can watch out for them. Besides, you know the first thing Roy would do once he woke up was try to find out of Lian was in this timeline. And if she isn't..." Donna responded.
"He'd steal the mother box the first chance he got to see if he could find her there and get himself stuck. Point taken," Wally finished dejectedly.
"Hey guys, lets try to stay positive here. If I know my sister she's researching everything she can from her angle trying to dig up information for us. She might have a lead we can follow," Keitaro cut in with a hopeful grin.
His sentiment was echoed with a grin from the still silent Cassandra as she gave Keitaro an encouraging pat on the shoulder to show her agreement.
"Well until then, who's up for getting a little sleep before we roll out to Japan?" Wally asked as he muffled a yawn of his own.
A chorus of agreements echoed around the campfire as the small band began to break up and head for their various rooms in the excavation tents. As they moved off Wall added, "And second on the agenda if getting another house built here. I mean I know I can't build the one Bruce put here for you or anything but I did build Linda's and my place myself. We could use something a little more permanent to work from."