บท 32: Chapter 32 Amaterasu
"Another one?" Bruce listened to the Gotham radio reporting the news concerning the crash of another meteor near Gotham and his flat expression grew a little rigid.
The bat computer had already pulled up a live video footage of a reporter from the Gotham Daily flying towards the area of the crash site on a helicopter
"... Cynthia Hall from The Gotham Daily Bugle with reports of another meteor crash outside the vicinity of Gotham....."
Contrary to what people would expect however, the news chopper stopped about a mile away from the reported landing area.
"As you can all see folks, the trail of smoke in the air shows that the meteor landed in that area. Home and Private territory of the Infamous alien otherwise known as The Deviant..... Unfortunately however, authorities have clearly stated that this area is strictly off limits to even the press populace and according to past news reports, the whole area is shielded by an energy shield..."
".... Further entry is not only forbidden but also unsafe as the barrier is said to be impenetrable. The citizens of the nation are beginning to wonder whether Amari is ....."
With furrowed brows, Bruce took a sip from his coffee, placed his favorite mug down on a coaster and stood up from his chair.
At the moment, Bruce wasn't putting on casual wear but was donning on pitch black tights, a long black cape with a Black Bat symbol on his chest area.
The Batman getup. The pitch black spandex suit with highly advanced tech equipped within it stuck close to his body.
"Amari's energy dome doesn't allow entry to foreign entities or objects and yet miraculously, a streaking meteor makes its way into his territory without intrusion".
Bruce narrated his thoughts to no one in particular as he was the only one present within the Batcave.
He already knew about the energy barrier surrounding the area. If Amari hadn't set up those shields, then there would always be a group of reporters who didn't know what was good for them, attempting to sneak into his base unnoticed.
Knowing that such a place was the base city of an unknown, very dangerous extraterrestrial entity should supposedly dissuade them from having such thoughts and engaging them?
Bruce knew that the answer to that question was a big fat no. If you want proof, all you had to do was look at people like Iris West Allen and Lois Lane who put their lives in danger time and time again while chasing after potentially dangerous leads...
Honestly, he thought it was nothing but madness.
There would always be reporters willing to put their necks on the line for a good scoop. There were those like the above mentioned who had a natural yet synonymously dangerous curiosity for the unknown and the supernatural.
While there were others who would do it for a possible promotion or a quick buck.
Bruce remembered clearly Clark and Barry's stories concerning how these two women spent majority of their time stalking their alter ego's.
He found it somewhat amusing actually, but that wasn't the point.
The dome was erected to prevent anything from getting in. But now...
"Computer, play satellite imaging on the meteors descent". Bruce gave an order and the screen changed.
The surveillance footage of the meteor descending on Gotham City played on the screen.
"Rewind...".
"Pace in slow motion". Batman said solemnly as he studied the video of the falling meteor. It didn't take him long to notice the very abnormal change of trajectory during its fall.
"Run playback, zoom in". The image of the meteor was magnified several times. As the world's best detective, Bruce noticed the swirl tht appeared in the atmosphere after examining for several minutes.
It didn't last long, barely two seconds yet it was enough to change its original course headed for Gotham Harbor.
"He caused it to deviate. Something's up with that meteor". Bruce immediately came to a conclusion. Anyone else would have probably chalked it up to a weather phenomenon, anyone else but him.
Looking at the screen, Bruce fell into a bit of a dilemma. Should he go down and investigate on his own immediately, or should he contact the rest of the league to take action together?
After a while of contemplating.....
"Batcomputer, contact Cyborg". Bruce reached out and placed his hands behind his neck. His fingers accurately grasped the fallen, lead lined cowl and wore it over his face, fully putting himself into the Bat costume.
Bruce looked at the video of the meteor and his heart was completely restless.
Although he didn't know why the latter suddenly decided to show himself after the past month of seclusion, the fact that he had, set off waves in his heart.
Bruce practically living in the Batcave for the past month was partly to monitor Amari's actions. And the fact that the latter seemed to have gone into hibernation unsettled him greatly.
His sudden action in Bruce's eyes carried a great deal of Importance.
"Batman. What's the situation?" Cyborgs face appeared on the screen.
"A meteor appeared over Gotham's skies and crashed into The Deviant's city". His reply was curt and concise, giving all important information in as little words as possible.
"And? What did you find out?" Cyborg asked curiously.
He knew Bruce too well. For the latter to suddenly call him, something strange must have happened.
"Here's the thing, it wasn't meant to crash there". He pressed a button and the screen showed two lines curving in different directions. They indicated the Meteors change of trajectory.
"From what I can tell, I believe he personally caused it to deviate. The energy shields around his base didn't try to prevent it from getting in".
"Something's wrong with this meteor".
"I see, so what are you thinking?"
"Amari's involvement directly makes this event anything but normal".
"I don't know what he's planning, but one thing's for sure. This falling meteor, isn't simple. We have to find out what".
Bruce stated the facts.
"Get up to the watchtower, I'll notify all available members of the league and we'll discuss our what's happening and a possible course of action". Vic said with a solemn look on his face.
"Understood". Bruce gave a light nod.
"Cyborg out". Cyborgs video went off, leaving Batman alone in the Bat Cave once again.
Bruce let out a heavy sigh before turning towards a side of the Batcave. That side happened to have a Zeta tube.
Meanwhile, back on the watchtower hovering above Earth's orbit.
Within the Med Bay.
Clark's sleeping figure laid within a solar regeneration pod which was surrounding by a lot of classy tech ensuring the continuous procedure of his Ion radiation transfer.
His upper body was naked while his lower half was clothed with white pants. The perfect, well lined muscles on his body didn't give off an ooze of sweat under the intense solar radiation.
Suddenly, Superman's fingers within the pod twitched...
...
United States.
Project Cadmus
On the outskirts of Metropolis.
If one looked closely, they would see a figure high above the clouds dressed in a loose fitting black shirt and shorts, his form reflected by the moon.
The male's line of sight wasn't on the distant Metropolis nightlife, but rather, gazing downwards on what looked to be a fully armored compound.
The were several buildings in the large area that made up what he deemed a small city, even smaller than his. The lights were shining brightly within the vicinity as the buildings were surrounding with nothing but lush trees and vegetation for miles.
Guards patrolled the area with guns and highly advanced technological weapons the average person couldn't see on the United States police force and were Watchtowers with multiple sentinels.
Amari watched all this from the heights of the clouds with his improved vision.
And this place was the one and only Project Cadmus, or just Cadmus for short.
A secret division of the United States government dedicated to countering the power of Metahumans in the world, particularly the members of the Justice League.
And the first founder and chairman of this operation was the infamous Lex Luthor.
Although related to the new United States president, the origins of Cadmus were mostly unclear.
However, apart from Lex the people who had dealings in Cadmus's operations could still be broadly named.
Amari's mind wandered to what he remembered from he words of Emil Hamilton to a certain someone.
"Power brokers, politicians, criminals and black-ops mercenaries with one thing in common besides they're humanity's last hope against your kind"
Project Cadmus was in the business of developing weapons, specifically to fight powered humans such as the Metahumans, Justice league and aliens.
Their dealings were...
Amari didn't care about that. His eyes wandered around the area and stopped on a specific building.
"And to think you would be hiding here of all places. Quite surprising, I admit. With your capabilities, no one would even think of looking for you here if they managed to discovered that you didn't die".
Amari stated casually as his lips were slightly upturned.
Why was he here? Quite simple. He was going to destroy Cadmus.
Although he decided not to kill Lex just yet, he certainly wouldn't let the latter live comfortably. Nevertheless, attacking Cadmus was just the icing on the cake.
He was here to finish something he started in the first place.
Amari's figure descended from the air rapidly and appeared in front of the Cadmus base. His arrival caused a large crater to appear on the ground with numerous cracks.
His sudden drop in didn't go unnoticed either.
All it took was three seconds and all the alarms started blaring within the buildings.
Numerous lights shone on his figure outside the walls followed by the sounds of the guards powering up their weapons.
"You are trespassing on private property.... Drop to the... ground with both hands behind your head or we will open....." A guard on a watchtower shouted in a shaky voice with as much courage as he could muster..
This guy had dropped in from the sky and the cracks on the ground indicated hat the latter was no small character.
His grip tightened on his laser pulse gun, the only thing that currently have him a sense of security and he threatened the intruder as best he could. However, his words stopped as he recognized the figure standing under the spotlights and his eyes widened in shock.
"It's you... You're that alien.." His voice was very loud, losing a large amount of the fear he previously had.
Amari wasn't hard to notice as his picture and video were all over the internet. Especially with the new rounds of promotion from Gordon Godfrey. The signature marks within his purple eyes just made him all the more easier to spot.
"Glad that you recognise me, so Hello". Amari raised his hand and waved with a nonchalant smile on his face.
"... And goodbye". Then his patterned eyes glowed brightly. The eyes of all the guards looking at him suddenly lost their light and became dull.
Then, Plop.
Several fell to the floor, some fell off there platforms and Amari walked forwards indifferently. The illusion of his eyes had just put everyone to sleep with a single gaze.
Nothing special.
BOOM!
With one punch, the gates were blown away and landed several meters in the distance, looking completely deformed.
Amari stood in place without moving, seemingly waiting for something. And thankfully, he didn't have to wait long.
In a matter of moments, numerous reinforcements arrived on the scene with high tech weapons, blasters, missile launchers.... There were even several tanks.
However, compared to the ones at the door, Amari quickly noticed that these guards were dull looking and had flat expressions. Similar to when he hypnotized the earlier guards.
Mind control.
"Controlling baseline humans with weapons to attack me? You do know it won't work right?" His indifferent voice questioned to the group of guards.
The mind controlled humans didn't utter a word and immediately opened fire. All kinds of weapons, lasers, plasma rockets, kryptonite powered blasters converged towards his standing space.
A burst of explosions sounded in the quiet night as dust and debris flew in all directions.
The smoke spread all over and could be seen a few miles away. The guards didn't stop firing, but continued to shoot blast after blast.
"That will be enough of that". The indifferent voice came from behind all of them causing the heavy fire to cease. Although they currently didn't have any awareness, the coldness emanating from those words caused a chill to run down their spines.
"Kamui". Amari activated his ability without a second thought. Although these group of humans were being mind controlled, it didn't matter to him.
No one who attacked him would go scot free. The degree of damage he would unleash would depend entirely on his mood at the time.
The guards only felt a strong suction force envelop them all, and then.
Squelch!
The unbearable pain, regardless of mind control caused them all to scream at he top of their lungs.
Some had their arms ripped off their shoulders. Others were their legs, while some even had their bodies divided in two from the waist.
The scene was bloody Carnage as dozens of men wailed in agony. The cause of all this had his body disappear on the spot. And appeared somewhere within the lower levels of the Cadmus building.
As soon as he appeared, several heavy metals suddenly sprung out of unknown positions and rapidly entangled him.
Amari didn't move an inch and watched it happen without even activating Kamui, watching the whole thing with interest.
Then, a short sword appeared behind him and accelerated rapidly, aiming for his heart.
A flash of coldness appeared in Amari's eyes. Unlike his bindings, that metal wasn't from earth.
Thinking of this, he immediately made a move.
Dark red aura seeped through his clothes and the metals binding him decayed rapidly and broke into countless pieces.
The dagger accelerated towards him only to be caught firmly within his palm. Looking at the weapon made from foreign materials, the murderous intent in his heart grew by the second.
"Alcan Metal. This should be what Sevimark's Twin Tail Chains were made of. Sharp enough to even tear through the defense of a kryptonian. I admit it would have posed a threat if your efforts had actually succeeded". His voice was flat and his face was indifferent.
He looked towards the end of the room where a certain containment pod full with liquid was mounted. Inside the pod was a creature with skin half black, half white and all the identifiable features of a Martian.
Mericrozz.
The Psion experiment wasn't in human form and her characteristics as a Martian were completely showcased. However, parts of her skin were severely burned and a leg was missing.
"Although just an insignificant threat, it's a threat nonetheless. You have a hint of my respect". Amari said indifferently.
"Unfortunately, that will in no way prevent you from dying".
Mericrozz still didn't say a word but her actions were in no way slow. Her powerful telekinesis unfolded, sending a massive invisible storm in his direction with as much power as she could muster in her injured state.
At the same time, her body activated density shifting and went invisible as she immediately aimed to escape from this place. Anywhere would do as long as she got far away from him.
However.
Seeing the fleeing figure of Mericrozz, it all played in slow motion within his eyes.
His eye suddenly glowed as he activated the second pupil technique within his other eye.
Amaterasu!
Pitch black flames appeared within the surroundings and expanded rapidly, devouring everything in its wake.
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