While Su Ming was learning about the situation from the purple-skinned Kro, he noticed Ikaris and Thena's expressions suddenly change drastically.
They had been happy that their friend had awakened, but after staring blankly at the sky for a while, their faces became ashen, as if struck by lightning. Ikaris in particular clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly.
Thena came to his side and held his arm to comfort him, but he only shook his head without saying anything.
"What exactly happened? You two look like you've run into trouble."
The helpful Sorcerer Supreme handed them sodas while raising a clenched fist, signaling the other teammates to gather around him.
The blonde woman glanced at her companion, who seemed too overwhelmed by grief to pull himself together, so she spoke. "We just received word from a friend. Ikaris was stripped of his leadership position in absentia and is now wanted by the entire race, because—"
"Because you associated with me, because I'm a Deviant, right?"
Kro lowered his head with a sigh and raised his hands, each of them ending in two claws like a frog's webbed feet.
"Druid captured me and wanted to pry the details of our past dealings out of me, but I didn't say anything. Later, he seemed to have something urgent to deal with, so he froze me and hurried away."
He looked ashamed, guilt showing in the golden vertical pupils of his cold-blooded eyes. He did not know how to help his friends, especially when one of them had lost everything because of him.
"No, my friend, this is all the Celestials' fault. They never should have made such rules." Thena took the soda from Deathstroke with her other hand and comforted Kro at the same time. "Our two races should never have