Following the deal between the two, Arias didn't immediately contact Barbara to inform her of the arrangement. Instead, he chose to wait for Batman to approach her and observe her reaction.
A big part of him still had doubts regarding her. Barbara's desire to help Arias only existed due to his facade of creating a better and safer Gotham. But what would happen when his true nature came to light?
Because of this, she was kept in the dark about a lot but given a false sense of trust and position. This so-called "trust" came in the form of the access she was granted to the Leviathan network and Arias's assignment to uncover double agents within his academies.
To her, these were likely signs of his trust, but in reality, they were simply distractions to keep her naive mind fooled and busy. As smart as she was, Barbara was blinded by her naivety and desire to be useful, making it far too easy for Arias to exploit.
---
On the same day as the conversation, in an unknown location, Vandal Savage paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, his expression firm and serious.
Before him was a large but blank screen that soon flashed on, revealing the figure of someone the world had come to know and fear... Darkseid.
His blood-red eyes looked devoid of emotion, and his grey, rocky skin gave him an even more intimidating appearance than Vandal Savage.
They exchanged no formalities as Darkseid spoke directly. "I see you've successfully managed to control your meta-human population, though you haven't sent over the agreed-upon quota of children. Is there a problem?"
Vandal Savage frowned at Darkseid's tone, which made him seem like a subordinate, so he answered back with even greater confidence, unafraid of Darkseid.
"No problem at all. The deal was simple: you provide useful Apokoliptian technology, and I provide you useful test subjects. But you yourself have yet to send us any real weaponry," Vandal Savage argued, keeping his head high and tone serious.
Darkseid, however, appeared visibly irritated by this answer, his expression growing stiffer. "You forget who among us wields the greater power. I agreed to a truce until you succeeded in conquering Earth. Don't think it will last if you forget your place."
The threats of Darkseid were very real, but even then, Vandal Savage wore a smirk and shook his head.
"Didn't you already try to break our agreement, only to be foiled spectacularly by the Justice League? Do you really think you'd manage when even I and my organization fought back?" Vandal revealed, confident in his analysis before continuing,
"The only reason I haven't voided our deal is due to our joint enemy in the League. But with the way things are progressing, your help is more of a burden now. I called, hoping you'd be willing to give more. Since this isn't the case, consider our deal void from now on," Vandal declared, his smirk widening as Darkseid's frown deepened.
Though Darkseid didn't lash out in anger, his voice displayed the rage he felt as he warned Vandal Savage. "Hmph. I have more than enough agents in your world. With or without your cooperation, the League will fall... and you will follow."
With those threatening words, the large screen flashed off, leaving Vandal Savage to absorb the message fully.
His once full smile faded slightly as his mind began to race.
'Without a sufficient point of entry into this world, Darkseid won't be coming back soon. His agents should be working towards retrieving the few Father Boxes that weren't destroyed by the League... What a pointless endeavor,' he thought to himself before turning away from the screen and walking off.
---
Meanwhile, in one of the many lively halls of Ark Academy, Barbara Gordon stood in front of her open locker. The structure was very advanced and neat, much like the rest of the institute.
The young girl bore a frown as she sighed, 'Dammit, Barbara, so much for solving this problem in a week. Argh, Mr. Markovic isn't going to trust me again if I don't bring a fully detailed list—'
Her many thoughts were soon interrupted when she felt the presence of someone approaching her locker. This caused her to sigh inwardly.
Because of her position as the face of Ark Academies, Barbara received a lot of attention. In the beginning, everyone wanted to befriend her and acted nice. But this quickly became annoying, and she refused most invitations or anything remotely close to friendship, feeling they just wanted to get close to her due to her position.
The same thing happened with Terra, and thus the two were actually beginning to become friends. But with Terra still in Markovia, Barbara was left with no one.
Other students rarely approached her now, and some even felt she was stuck-up and arrogant. Still, a few bothered her from time to time, and Barbara assumed this was one of those instances.
She closed her locker door and turned to meet the person, only to find a young boy looking up at her with a mischievous smirk. "Hey!"
His tone was energetic, causing Barbara to tilt her head slightly before asking, "Aren't you supposed to be in the junior section? Are you lost or something?"
The boy immediately shook his head and responded confidently. "What gave you that idea? I was actually looking for you because I noticed you came around our section of the school. When I asked around, I found out you were asking teachers about other students and their performances so far, so I figured you were there as a scout. I came to sign up!"
Barbara had been a little worried at first, but once the boy finished speaking, she laughed and shook her head. "There is no sign-up. I think you have the wrong idea. You'd better get back to your section—break period is coming to an end."
She was about to turn and leave when the boy stopped her, pleading. "Wait, wait. Okay, is there like a club I can join or something? I don't really fit in with the others... You're the only one I could turn to."
He wore a somewhat downcast expression, which caused Barbara to sigh.
"Only standard clubs are available right now, but I'll see what I can do about opening a club for students who feel out of place, okay? No promises, though. What's your name, by the way?"
The boy grinned ecstatically and introduced himself proudly. "Yes! Oh, the name's Billy Batson! Thanks!"
Without waiting for Barbara to respond, Billy ran off, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
Barbara could only sigh and shake her head. "Great, even more work to do... Dammit, maybe I am too nice sometimes."