The Monitor Womb was dark for once—no red alerts, no spinning threat maps, just soft blue ambient lighting and the quiet hum of the station’s life-support systems. Earth turned slowly outside the massive viewport, whole and safe again.

Pizza boxes littered every flat surface. Cyborg’s speakers thumped a victory playlist—Springsteen, AC/DC, whatever Flash had thrown on shuffle. Empty soda cans and crumpled napkins rolled gently across the floor whenever someone moved too fast.

Flash was halfway up the wall, clinging to a support beam with one hand while waving a slice of pizza with the other.

“I’m telling you—when that Parademon tried to grab me? I just went vwoop and left him hugging air. Classic.”

Superman sat on the edge of the round table, cape draped over one shoulder, eating a slice slowly like he was savoring the fact that he could.

“You did good, Barry. All of you did.”

Wonder Woman raised a glass of something golden that definitely wasn’t from Earth’s vineyards.

“To the living. To the fallen we avenged. And to the next sunrise we will see together.”

Green Lantern floated upside-down near the ceiling, green ring lazily spinning a glowing trophy shaped like a giant middle finger pointed at the stars.

“To me, mostly. That construct shield took an Omega Beam like a champ.”

Aquaman, boots kicked up on the table, laughed—a deep, rolling sound.

“You blocked one beam. I drowned an entire battalion. Perspective, Jordan.”

Cyborg leaned back in the command chair, arms behind his head.

“Y’all are cute. I hacked Darkseid’s personal comms mid-battle and played ‘Baby Shark’ on loop. That’s the real MVP move.”

Batman stood near the viewport, arms crossed, staring at Earth. He hadn’t touched the food.

“Sloppy execution. We lost twelve seconds on the eastern flank. Next time—”

Flash blurred over and draped an arm around Batman’s shoulders.

“Next time we’ll lose eleven seconds. Progress, Bats. Celebrate.”

Batman sighed—the smallest, most put-upon sigh in the universe—but didn’t shrug the arm off. Then the lounge door slid open.

You stepped inside.

The music stuttered for half a second. Heads turned. Flash recovered instantly, waving the pizza slice like a flag.