บท 35: Chapter 35 Batman's Exposed

Justice League public HQ

Hall Of Justice

Washington DC

....

The silver white moon shone brightly in the nighttime all over the city.

[Recognized: Batman 02]

[Recognized: Martian Manhunter 07]

Two pulses of golden yellow light flashed within the Hall of Justice inner room, followed by the staunch bodies of two figures stepping out of the Zeta tubes.

Bruce walked out indifferently, his arms covered underneath his cape, while his face portrayed nothing but seriousness.

Following behind him was the Green Martian himself, J'onn J'onzz.

Looking around, he instantly recognized the familiar surroundings and guessed their current location. Nevertheless, the fact that they were here left him slightly puzzled.

"Batman! Why did the Zeta tubes bring us to the Hall? What about the rest of the league? Why is it just the two of us?" He asked in an attempt to clear his puzzlement.

They had just finished discussing their next course of action to take against Amari. So why was the teleport location of both of them different from the other Leaguers?

"We need to do something before we get to that. And I need your help for some extra matters". The dark and broody voice of the dark night resounded in his ears.

"Oh? Then what can I assist you with?" He asked.

"Flash said something that I agree with. With his character, I'm afraid that Amari won't just cooperate with our actions. We might be in for a difficult battle tonight. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue...."

Bruce paused for a moment, bringing slight suspense, before continuing.

"... However, the target location this time is his base. Let's not even mention the energy shield, facts state that we know nothing about that place or what defenses it could have. This alone puts us at a disadvantage".

Listening to Batman's words, Martian Manhunter quickly understood what Batman was conveying.

Amari was already a mysterious character, even to the league, who had access to the green lantern database and a wealth of information about various life forms all over the universe.

Apart from the respective abilities he had openly shown, they knew nothing else about this otherworlder. A fact that, honestly, Batman didn't like one bit.

Now, they were about to invade into the said alien's private space.

Batman didn't know about others, but the League's true headquarters, the Watchtower, had all sorts of defense mechanisms and powerful weapons systems designed to attack all unauthorized Intruders on the spot.

So did Superman's fortress. Hell, even his own Bat cave had some security alarms, as well as a few high-tech traps set here and there for security purposes.

And with such a large base, almost equivalent to a small city, Bruce wouldn't believe that the energy shield was the only form of defense Amari had within his territory.

He wouldn't believe it even if he was tied up by the Joker and beaten to death with a walking stick.

"...... We don't know what he has in there. Without info, we are definitely going to suffer some losses. If we have to fight him within that place, our situation might get ugly". Bruce's tone was grim.

The situation was quite similar to him battling the Joker within the latter's clown castle. A deathtrap in the literal sense.

Bruce didn't dare to take such a big risk. Especially if his neglect could cause a leaguer to turn out severely injured, or even worse, dead.

The thought alone sent a slight shiver down his spine.

Bruce was right to be concerned, as although satellite imaging could only show the surface view of the place, the whole city practically screamed the word "Futuristic".

A series of worst-case scenarios had already played within his head several times over. Energy Cannons, disintegrator rays, Teleporters, Meta human dampeners, flamethrowers.... If Amari had designed some traps against them, then they would find themselves in a tough situation if they got caught.

What if they were teleported straight into a deep space the moment they set foot into the place? Or an endless space similar to the phantom zone? Or instantly bombarded with Disintegration rays. Clark wasn't here, or else he would definitely add kryptonite guns and Red Sun tech to the list.

Bruce would never underestimate his enemy.

Instead, he would prepare contingency plans for contingency plans.

"The entire place could be a deathtrap. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to engage him in his domain. If we aren't careful, we could get killed". He stated his mind and sure enough, J'onn frowned at his words.

Reason pointed out clearly that Batman was right to be concerned.

Fighting the enemy on his turf was plain stupid.

"So what are you thinking?"

"We draw him out. Lure him out of his base and cutting off any possibility of him leveraging on external strength". Bruce proved time and time again that he was by no means a fool.

"To be honest with you, I'd rather not have to fight him if not necessary. Our goal is the spaceship and what's in it. If we can obtain it without having to battle him, it would be for the best".

Amari was someone who could go toe to toe with Superman. Although both of them hadn't officially fought yet to determine who was stronger, Bruce had a rough estimate of Amari's physical capabilities.

The fact that he had beaten Green Lantern in less than thirty seconds was a testament to his capabilities.

That wasn't his concern, though. The league had heavy hitters within their ranks. Shazam, Captain Atom, Wonder Woman and even Martian Man hunter. The physical strength of these members, although inferior to the Man Of Steel in a one-on-one battle, were enough to make even Clark helpless when facing them all together.

Shazam's strength wasn't even inferior to Clark himself. At least, that's what the last data report on Superman said. That was a very long time ago. As for now....

Getting off track a bit.....

What truly gave him a headache was the additional abilities he possessed that they knew of and those they didn't know a thing about.

Batman was confident, not arrogant.

"We split into two teams. One will lure him out of his base and use Cyborgs tech to shut down his teleportation ability. With his ability to escape hindered, we can hold him down long enough for the others to search his base".

"Once we find the spaceship and what's inside, then we can leave. Maybe take the opportunity to get some info on our alien resident. Once we're done, we leave, unless of course we find something we can't ignore. After all, we aren't planning on attacking him. As long as it stops there, even if he's angry, I believe he won't go too far. And if he does, then we'll take him down".

"Show him that his schemes won't always work for him. Perhaps get him to be a little more honest".

Bruce finished candidly.

This operation was something he was actually very much looking forward to. To be honest, in his evaluation, what all the capabilities he had currently shown, Amari was at best equivalent to Superman.

And sure, Clark could take down other leaguers in a one-on-one, possibly three to five at maximum. And that was considering if Kryptonite wasn't used, and he didn't square off against magic users like Doctor Fate, Zatara and Shazam.

Wonder woman at this point hadn't fully activated her Divine power and was still a demigod with stronger physical fitness at best.

Point being, in the face of more numbers on the opposite side with almost equal strength, even Clark could and would be subdued.

The Deviant wasn't Amazo after all, that needed eight Leaguers to fight for four hours to finally dismantle.

Of course, his was mainly due to the fact that the Android could only use one ability at a time.

In the final analysis, Batman had chalked Amari up to the same level of villains like Black Adam.

"I see your point. Quite frankly, I agree. But how do you plan to achieve that?" J'onn asked curiously.

The Leagues' relationship with Amari could already be described. However, Amari hadn't made any public appearances since he created his fortress more than a month ago.

If there were no accidents, he should be within his base with the spaceship and whatever was inside.

"There's someone we need to see who can help here in Washington. He's the only person known to have contact with Amari apart from us. And I need you to come with me for some additional insurances". Bruce answered.

"You mean?....". J'onns mind buzzed for a second, and he immediately reacted.

Bruce just nodded in agreement.

"Very well, let's go". Bruce didn't say anything else, turned around and began walking.

"The Zeta tubes brought us to Washington, I believe he should within the city".

"Correct". Bruce replied, and they said no more.

.......

Washington DC, Penthouse

Sam Lane walked towards the miniature bar at the other end of the large living area with furrowed brows.

He required a drink. The call from Lex Luthor less than two hours ago really killed his mood, and he needed to shake off the slight depression.

Whiskey? No, a Martini would do just fine.

To be honest, his impression of Lex Luthor was just as bad as the Justice League. That conniving, scheming, ambitious bastard.

If he could change reality, Sam honestly didn't want Lex to become the new president. But hey, the world made it so ad he could only cope with it.

Pouring himself a glass, Lane took a full gulp as the drink slid down his throat into his stomach.

His facial expressions had several changes in a matter of minutes as his mind wandered here and there.

One thing was for sure, though, the Red Queen couldn't and wouldn't fall into the hands of Mr. President even if Superman was dying right in front of him.

Of course, for now, Lex had other things to worry about. The Red Queen had shown him the info of Cadmus's destruction.

This brought a bit of light into his somewhat sour mood. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't find out who was behind it.

Cadmus was a military investment, after all. The destruction of even one of its facilities was a massive loss to the government.

Eventually, he would find out who was targeting Cadmus's operations. If he had full control of the Red Queen, he could probably find out in a matter of minutes....

"Alice, can you find out who is responsible for this?" That's right, Sam had decided to give the AI a name.

"With my current access permissions, it is temporarily impossible. Nevertheless, I would like to inform you that you have two uninvited guests who have infiltrated the building. One is currently standing on your balcony".

The sentence stunned Lane for a moment. Someone was here.

His hand immediately reached for a hidden chamber nearby to pull out a gun.

He turned around immediately, pointing his weapon towards the window area that blasted a fantastic view over Washington's nightlife.

However, seeing the figure that appeared, Lane was once again slightly surprised before several black lines appeared on his forehead.

If he had known, he wouldn't have turned around.

"General Sam Lane". Batman said in a low voice.

Sam's eyebrows twitched. His mood that was already hanging low fell even more.

First the bald president, now the broody bat. Neither of these two were people he wanted to deal with.

"Batman". Sam replied indifferently. His gun still pointed at the caped crusader.

"What do you want?"

"Why don't you put the gun down first?"

"You know I don't like uninvited guests".

The atmosphere was rather silent, until....

"Please put down the firearm, general. We mean you no harm. We only wish to talk". A voice sounded from another side of the room. Sam turned his head to see the appearing figure of Martian Manhunter who had just lifted his invisibility.

"I'm in no mood to discuss with you, so let's cut to the chase. What do you want?" Lane said and asked again without a change in expression.

"Amari". Bruce spat out a word.

Sam had his face wrinkle slightly.

"I should have known". Sam put the gun away, grumbling. His face eased up after taking another gulp of his drink and looked at the two uninvited guests blandly.

"To be honest, I expected you to come sooner".

Bruce didn't pay any heed to his words. His gaze had drifted away to the holographic Red girl projecting at the center of the room.

"Artificial intelligence?" Bruce deduced in his mind and asked Lane vaguely. The Red Queen had stated that two people had intruded into the penthouse.

Noticing him was not surprising. But Martian Manhunter on the other hand was a different story.

"Alice, say hello to our uninvited guests". Sam waved his hand and said nonchalantly.

"Hello Mr. J'onn J'onzz. Good evening, Mr. Wayne".

As soon as her words fell, the atmosphere suddenly solidified to the extreme.

Bruce's face grew stiff for a moment before the gloominess surrounding him intensified several folds.

Batman's true identity had been exposed.