"I come from Trynkade, a class five planetary body in orbit of a white dwarf star named Orhys. It is twenty six point seven times more massive than Earth." Rahn said as she cleared the debris field that clustered about the International Space Station.

Hal Jordan nodded as his ring manifested an electromagnet that pulled all loose shrapnel toward him. "More powerful gravitational pull explains your superhuman strength."

"That is a somewhat adequate assessment. You are not the idiotic oaf that Bruce Wayne made you out to be."

"Well, I used to be a test pilot. Needed to know some science for that...and instant access to the universe's strongest search engine doesn't hurt either," he said with a smirk, raising his ring hand.

After pushing several crumpled spacecraft hulls into the effective range of Hal's construct, Rahn vanished for a split second, and reappeared thousands of feet away in order to manage another handful of wreckage.

"Neat trick. Is that biological?" Hal mused.

"Yes. My ancestors were the bottom of the Trynkaden food chain for millennia. We were hunted nearly to extinction, until the very things that devoured us blessed us with the means of survival." Rahn teleported once again after thrusting the distant garbage closer to the Green Lantern officer. "Evolution saved us. Through generations of death and rebirth my people eventually grew to exist beyond the three dimensions that you call 'space', in one that you are biologically unable to interpret."

"Your people evolved into...fourth dimensional beings?"

"Correct."

Hal said aloud, as if he were declaring how incredible it was, "So you don't teleport. You just move via a fourth dimension...an axis that human beings can't even comprehend."

Rahn nodded. "Correct."

She thought it was amusing that humans were only hypothesising the existence of a mysterious fourth dimension of space while all Trynkadens were able to move through it as easily as humans moved up, down, left, or right. They were so biologically inept that they relied on technological supplements.

"Man, Barry would love this," he muttered to himself before continuing. "So...you don't actually look like that, do you?"

Rahn shook her head, a gesture she had recently learned. "None of you could make sense of my true self, even if you could see it."

As a mass of destroyed alien warships mashed themselves together at Hal's side, he rubbed his chin. "Okay. So I'm free to imagine a terrifying five-armed, six-headed John Carpenter monster?"

"I do not understand nor care for this irrelevant cultural anecdote."

Hal chuckled. "Right, sorry."

Rahn continued helping the Green Lantern contain the drifting pieces of technology in silence, making sure to adhere to his commands to secure everything, no matter how small. Hal explained that a piece of metal the size of a quarter, if it impacted with one of the many human satellites orbiting Earth, could cause what is known as a 'cascade effect'; simply put, a single screw in orbit travels at incredulous speeds so if it impacted with another object, it would act like a bullet. This object would then be turned into an entire cloud of bullets, then rinse and repeat. Before long, Earth's entire internet and telecommunications network would be destroyed...by a single screw.

Rahn thought that it was pathetic that something of such importance to them could be eradicated by an item smaller than her thumb. It spoke much of their simplicity and youth as a species. They made so many mistakes.

"Lantern Jordan, I must ask for your advice." Rahn started.

Hal shrugged. "Sure. What do you need?"

"As a fellow law enforcement officer, you are required to engage in public relations with those you protect. I am attempting to do the same with the people of Earth, but am encountering opposition."

"Bruce?"

"He is apprehensive towards my presence here."

"He's apprehensive towards everybody, sweetheart. Don't take it personally."

"I would not. But I am an Emissary for the Orhysian Principality; I must know how to promote Bruce Wayne's cooperation, as well as that of all Earthlings. I wish to access his nuanced technical knowledge regarding Earth criminality, and to do so, I must gain his trust. You must tell me how."

"It isn't that simple," Hal laughed. "Humans are complicated. We all like different things. It's just a matter of figuring out what that might be for each individual."

"Teach me."

"Look, I'm the least qualified person on the planet to be telling you how to get people to like you. You've already made yourself familiar with the internet, right? Look up psychology, it's the really complicated science of how the human mind works."

With that, Hal zipped off toward the sun, carrying the mass of destroyed invading ships with him. Rahn was left to consider the fact that there was an entire discipline of science dedicated to how human beings think. It was ludicrous.

After some light reading of several hundred psychology research papers and textbooks, Rahn was able to hypothesize that Bruce had sent her to help with the short-lived alien invasion in a sneaky human attempt to 'get rid of her'. Her rebuttal of this futile action was simple; come back to him.

———————————————

It took a trivial amount of time for Rahn to transport herself back to Gotham City, where the black sky had draped itself over the skyline without a single cloud in sight. Rahn found the day/night cycle on Earth intriguing to say the least. Trynkade was tidally locked to Orhys, meaning that one side was permanently facing the blazing sun and the other eternally shrouded in freezing darkness. This duality of nature bred Trynkadens to become naturally resistant against extreme conditions.

Bruce knelt by the edge of a tall structure, staring at the streets below with a pair of binoculars.

"Why are you wasting your precious time staring at the ground? There are without a doubt countless incidents occurring throughout the city and you do this?" Rahn scoffed.

Batman frowned.

Rahn cocked her head in the face of Bruce's silence. The extensive reading she had conducted on psychology was vague at best. Bruce's silence could have been interpreted as a great number of different things. The sheer unpredictability of human nature frustrated her.

An efficient species was unified, like-minded and dependant on their own solidarity. Humans were instinctively inclined to distrust one another, sacrifice another's wellbeing for their own personal gain, and possessed so many conflicting beliefs that Rahn was surprised that they hadn't already eradicated themselves centuries ago.

However, Rahn's silent staring in contemplation seemed to elicit a response. Bruce quietly explained, "I'm tracking a weapons smuggling ring. By following this dealer to the rest of his organisation, I can stop the distribution of illegal military-grade weapons to the city's criminal underground."

"Amusing." Rahn admitted, sounding surprised. She never would've considered chasing the weapons instead of those who wielded them. Bruce's unorthodox approach did appear plausible however. "What makes this distribution chain a priority?"

"The Italians are feuding with the Russians. The Triad splintered into two separate camps both hellbent on eradicating the other. All four factions need firepower," Bruce muttered. He seemed used to explaining his chain of thoughts, perhaps to his young partner Robin. "Unknowingly, they all get their weapons from the same source."

"This consorting with multiple clients will be interpreted as disrespectful if the truth was ever revealed, correct?"

Batman grunted in acknowledgement. "Gotham will turn into a warzone. The dealers will either be killed, or forced to defend themselves."

"Both scenarios will result in amplified hostilities." Rahn concluded.

From what little she knew about Bruce, she could tell that he respected intellect and logic. However, he was incredibly sceptical of anyone in a position of power or authority. Seeing as Rahn was stronger than most members of the Justice League, she knew that she would have to carefully measure her actions to gain Bruce's trust. She started by simply asserting her intelligence whilst also signalling that she was learning from him.

Suddenly, Bruce lowered his binoculars and hurried toward the edge of the block. Rahn noticed that his target had crossed the street and that Batman was in pursuit.

The stakeout continued for hours. The target visited other contacts, went out for dinner... All the while, Batman stalked his prey without any lapse in focus. Rahn, not able to feel impatient due to how her species experienced the flow of time, simply observed Bruce's behaviour.

Batman only spoke when the target walked into a seemingly abandoned warehouse in Park Row, one of the extremely impoverished zones in the city. "This location lines up with the intel. It could be where the smuggling ring is operating out of."

"How could you be so speculative at this point?"

"To expect mistakes is to never be wrong." Bruce responded. "Nothing is ever certain."

Rahn became more and more intrigued by the man with every word he spoke. His exterior always exerted utmost confidence and certainty. She was initially annoyed at how he carried himself like a being who knew everything and could do anything, despite the fact that humans were incredibly fragile and remarkably easy to fool.

However, it was clear to Rahn now that it was all a 'bluff', a human tactic to illicit a certain impression through deceit. Bruce Wayne knew that he was not perfect, that he made mistakes, but maintained a facade of perfection. Other humans saw him as more than human, and those on the Justice League saw him as an equal. It was an effective strategy, especially when Bruce focused on making his enemies fear him.

After allowing Bruce several seconds to examine the structure with his binoculars, Rahn asked, "They are certainly 'armed to the teeth', as you would say. Your protective garb is insufficient to deflect high-calibre ballistics."

Bruce grinded his teeth in response to Rahn's stating of the obvious. She noted to avoid doing so in the future. "I'm going to cut the lights." He stated dryly.

Rahn recalled that humans can only see on certain wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. As a result, a source of 'visible light' must be present for humans to receive any visual stimulus. Her studies also noted that humans became fearful when they were deprived of the ability to see. "Devious. But will you not be blinded as well?"

Bruce said nothing as he drew his grapple gun, fired it at the roof of the warehouse, and yanked himself over to it. Rahn had to assume that Batman had already thought of something to compensate for his inferior biology. After all, human technology was designed to make up for their inabilities.

Curiously, Rahn followed Bruce closer to the building until she was floating just a few feet away from a large, arched window. He was staring into it, his jaw tense. "Were you not going to extinguish the light source?"

Batman held an index finger to his lips then pointed back towards the view from their window. Two groups of armed men were conversing, and at this point Rahn realised that it was much too late to turn out the lights. Now that their men were within close proximity, fighting in the dark could risk casualties; their gunfire would be shot without direction and likely hit each other.

Rahn hummed in slight admiration. She had initially pegged Bruce as a weakling hiding behind his own ego, but he continued to surprise her. He was intelligent, careful, and perceptive - traits that seemed to compensate for his lack of special abilities. Still, Rahn knew that she could stop this exchange within a few seconds if she wished, and Bruce was still bound by the laws of his own mortality. Rahn shrugged, "Want me to deal with it?"

"No." Batman replied without hesitation, "Stay out of this."

Then, from his belt, Batman produced a small device that looked similar to a suction cup. He pressed it against the glass and placed his ear on the other end. Rahn's forehead wrinkled with obvious confusion. "What is that thing?"

Bruce didn't answer. He stayed completely still on his grapple, not even influenced by the slight breeze. With the extensive research that Rahn had recently conducted into the human psyche, she could deduct that he had either not heard her...or was choosing to ignore her entirely. Given Bruce's history, the latter sounded more likely. Rahn frowned. She wasn't exactly fond of being ignored. "What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Listening," was the only reply that Bruce gave but that seemed to be enough. Rahn's gaze flicked towards the two groups of men and a wrinkle formed between her eyebrows. There were at least a dozen ways that Rahn could eavesdrop on their conversation that all took much less effort than Bruce's method. She had to remind herself, though, that humans had not evolved to be as practical as her race.

The alien woman let her gaze fall back to the scene. They were yelling now - gesturing with their hands more, and every now and then, inching their fingers towards their guns. Something shifted, and whatever it was, it took all civility with it. Within seconds gunfire was piercing the air and one of the groups was ducking for cover. Apparently this deal had turned sour.

Batman reacted as quickly as any human possibly could. He shoved the microphone back into his belt and started climbing the rope of his grapple gun to the roof. Rahn didn't follow. Instead, she opted for watching the scene unfold in front of her.

Now, Rahn was not easily startled but what happened next truly shocked her. One of the men, brown-eyed and bulky, walked straight towards the firing guns. He tensed, then fell apart entirely. His skin bubbled, bones disintegrating and becoming almost gelatinous. It looked like he was melting...yet he grew larger the more his body unravelled. Soon he no longer looked human - he had eyes and a mouth but they didn't look real. Almost like those snowmen Rahn had stumbled upon on the covers of children's books - button eyes and carrot noses and all pushed in where they didn't belong like an afterthought. The difference, though, was that this man almost looked like he was made out of clay, not snow, and each step left large puddles of the stuff sticking to the ground.

The creature growled and that sound rumbled through the building like a giant tremor. The weapons shook in their owner's hands', drastically lowering their accuracy. Any bullets that actually hit the giant monster dunk straight through him - disappearing and fusing inside of him as if it never existed at all.

The world went eerily silent for a brief moment and then, as expected, the men started to flee. Some of them held onto their guns, but others had dropped them in the midst of their own terror. They didn't dare return to retrieve them.

A hatch in the ceiling swung open, suddenly, and from it Batman fell into the fray. He didn't look even remotely surprised by the viscous thing in his path. In fact, there was a hint of familiarity in his eyes that Rahn barely caught. As if he had seen this before...too many times to have any significant reaction. After the initial surprise wore off, Rahn recognised him as well from the criminal records she had been perusing (very illegally).

Basil Karlo was what humans called an actor; someone who pretended to be someone else for the sake of entertainment. As stupid an idea as that was to Rahn, Karlo was involved in an on-set accident when filming on location at an abandoned waste processing facility. No one knows exactly what Karlo was exposed to when he fell into a vat and went missing for several months, but when he re-emerged he was able to exercise complete control over his physical appearance. Rahn surmised that some form of noxious chemical that the humans were much too dumb to be playing with altered his cellular makeup after he was trapped down in the sludge for so long.

This control over physical appearance however, was discovered by Karlo to be only temporary Whenever he transformed into a human shape, he could only retain it for a limited period of time. Doomed to always revert into a steaming pile of material that smelt and looked like excrement(and that the media had started to call 'Clayface'), Rahn felt like it was only logical for him to lose his mind. After all, his frail human brain could only deal with so much.

Clayface said something, but it was practically unintelligible. It sounded almost painful for him, like just mustering the energy to form the words was a tremendous effort.

Rahn kept her gaze on him, and within the blink of an eye, she had teleported from outside the building and was suddenly floating right beside Batman. "Do you still wish for me to not get involved?"

Bruce didn't even spare her a sideways glance before saying, "Distract him."

Visibly amused by his suggestion, Rahn nodded and drifted towards the creature. The organism that she wore as her outfit slowly covered her face until there was nothing but that strange emptiness - the face (or lack thereof) that Bruce had first seen when he met her.

Rahn didn't look even remotely concerned about Clayface. It was clear that she didn't view him as much of a threat. She sent one careless fist towards his 'head', or the muck that made up the top half of his being, and when her hand connected it sprayed remnants of Clayface all over the walls. Now he looked like he had been torn in half...but the creature still lurched forward as if nothing had happened at all.

Tendrils from the creature's mass reached towards Rahn's fist and twisted themselves around it. She pulled her arm backwards but it felt like Clayface had fused his grip onto her - no amount of super strength could pull her away from something that was stuck to her sleeve. Impatiently, Rahn frappes at the muck with her free hand, trying to tear it off...but this only gave it another section to adhere itself to.

What was left of Clayface wrapped itself around Rahn, pulsing and reforming until she found herself completely submersed in the mud-like substance. She was stuck inside of him.

Rahn tried to teleport out, but to do this she had to move into the fourth dimension...and she could barely lift her index finger. Apparently super strength was pretty useless when you were unable to gain any momentum. Rahn wasn't used to being in a situation where her brute strength couldn't save her, and that left her perplexed.

There was a loud 'bang' from somewhere outside, then a distinct hissing. The muck around her grew so freezing cold that it stiffened and solidified. The next attempt that Rahn made to move seemed to crack Clayface straight down the middle until, finally, he crumbled into hundreds of pieces - like broken ice.