Chương 10: chapter 10: The World's Reaction
Saying that the news that Superman had brought back to Earth, that the Green Soldier was in truth a super soldier from another universe, one far more advanced than theirs by his technology, had shaken the world's most powerful people to its core, would be severely understating it. Some liked it, having someone as advanced as him watching over their world in case more invaders they could not fight off came. Others wanted to interview the man in person, if only to have the scoop of the century.
Others, like the U.S military and several others, did not like at all the fact there was an independent military base literally at Earth's doorstep, with no current way to reach it aside from some privileged few that were NOT military themselves... and had no real way to defend themselves against in case he was lying about his intentions. And even that was when they actually believed his outlandish claims of being from another universe altogether, instead of being an alien himself who merely looked like a human being, like Superman was.
They were not the only ones thinking that, either, just the most outspoken.
In Metropolis, on one of LexCorp's tower many, many offices, a certain CEO was rewatching scenes of the Green Soldier, now revealed as 'Doom Slayer', doing what the little-minded would have considered heroics, from stopping a train by using himself as a brake to holding up a building so that the people trapped inside could escape.
"Just like that damnable alien." He grunted as he watched the man seemingly waste his life in being a 'hero'. "Only with combat armor. And a plasma cannon."
And he wasn't foolish. If Superman was telling the truth, this universe-displaced soldier merely wanted to protect Earth from outside attacks... but how, would he do that? With just his strength (which was admitedly high, but hasn't proved to be to actually match Superman's), some energy weapon, and whatever he was building on his frontyard?
Lex scoffed. He probably had some kind of weapon hidden within his home, maybe even an entire armoury! And who the Hell called himself DOOM Slayer if they were, supposedly, a hero?
After three days of watching the Doom Slayer's home and his machines build up what the man himself admitted were weapons, Luthor desperately wanted to take a closer look to both the Doom Slayer's technology and home, but at the same time, he didn't want to test his luck. After all, this man could open a wormhole from Mars to Earth just to deliver two rovers. And something told Lex that the wormhole's actual range had to be even greater than just a couple AUs.
'A waste of power, if there was one' Lex thought with annoyance, thinking of the potential uses of a wormhole generator. 'And protect Earth? All he needs to do is to actually do it is open a portal to the Sun and punt Superman through, and yet he hasn't!'
Worse still, there simply was no way for him to manipulate, trick or otherwise control the man in any way that would benefit him.
"No money, no blackmail, no ambition, not even some code of honour, nothing!" Lex muttered to himself, angry that there was someone he could not exploit in some way or manner; even Superman's actions could be taken advantage of in some way! Fights a 'stolen' battlesuit? Use the data to make a stronger one. Drives a man obsessed with him? 'Enhance' the man to put him on equal ground with the alien.
But you couldn't get anything from a man that came out of a blue portal and then leaves less than a few minutes later and in another continent to boot, and all he got from spying Doom Slayer's HQ was some audience for his own channel, and he only founded it because of a whim he had forgotten about!
Then, there was the willingness he had to hurt people. True, the worst he had done was ripping that italian guy's jaw off, but no known vigilante had ever tried to be that brutal, not even the Batman himself, and he was known for snapping knees, crushing hands, and otherwise being quite willing to cripple people, although not permanently.
He shuddered when he imagined himself being at the wrong end of that kind of strength.
All that thinking and being unable to do anything gave him a headache.
Sighing, Lex forced himself to calm down and. He had yet to see the full capabilities of Doom Slayer. First he'd wait, and then if the soldier did something else than just standing and letting bullets hit him or lift buildings he would do... well, something about it. In the meantime...
"Mercy, please bring me some water and aspirine."
In a mountain fortress located in the Middle East, a tall goateed man with green eyes, wearing a simple green cape over opulent tunics, looked at a screen with interest as the so called Doom Slayer stood up after being hit with a rocket, without even a scratch on his armor. The man looked to be in his fifties, but in truth he was old enough to have participated in the siege of Constantinople; in fact, were it not for his intervention on Mehmed II's behalf, the city and the empire would have been able to resist the Ottomans' onslaught. Sadly, the man had decided that the last vestiges of the Roman Empire to give Europe the chance to progress without having a constant reminder of its barbaric past right on their doorstep.
That, and because of the man's disdain and loathing for the Greek Empire.
Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head, founder and immortal leader of the League of Assassins, formed to bring peace and harmony to the world by any means, be it destroying entire civilizations or simple murder of state heads.
And he was interested by what he was seeing. Not since he had found out the existence of the Lazarus' Pits and his first encounter with Batman, or as he called himself Bruce Wayne, had he been interested in something.
Standing beside him was Ubu, a mountain of a man and the latest of a line of loyal bodyguards. In truth, he did not really need protection, but the first Ubu had been his brother in arms and died protecting Ra's from a Teutonic blade, and wanted to honour his sacrifice. Neither Talia or Nyssa, his daughters, were with him at the moment, travelling the world in search of recruits and doing work respectively.
"Fascinating." He whispered as LexCorp's rover recorded the man's fortress from atop a martian dune. "If only he used but a percentage of that strength and technology to do as his name indicated." Indeed, why call oneself Doom Slayer if they did not fullfil the second half of their name, despite clearly being able to do so?
Despite what others might have thought, however, he didn't believe that this Doom Slayer could be a possible heir: he had yet to demonstrate a sign of actual intelligence, that whatever he was building was born out of his mind. Bruce would still be either his heir, or his heir's progenitor, no matter how advanced or powerful this Doom Slayer was, and nothing would change his mind... but Ra's could still get something out of him. Perhaps he could be the future Ubu, with his astonishing strength and technology? Maybe even giving his knowledge to the League of Assasins to enhance their potential?
"Just imagine it Ubu, the might of a titan obeying the intellect of a god." He muttered, already imagining the potential of such a man being part of the League as its new Demon's Head servant.
The current Ubu, however, wasn't so sure. "Master, am I allowed to voice my opinion on the matter?"
The Demon's Head glanced back at his bodyguard and nodded. He had specifically chosen the new Ubu to be incredibly loyal to him, yet also still independent and honest when it came to his personal opinion. Ra's made sure of choosing him after the previous one blindly did as he told him, something that ended with his premature death.
"This new man is completely unknown to us, and given everything we know of him he's anything but some brute that can be tricked; even then, we have yet to meet him in person and discern more of him. We must be cautious, and have patience."
Ra's stared at his faithful servant for a moment, before sighing. He was right, they needed to know more about this soldier from another Earth before doing anything.
"We shall wait, then, for the perfect opportunity to act."
On another part of the world, once again in the United States, an african-american woman was doing the same. She was Amanda Waller, head of a secret branch of the U.S government founded after Superman's brief stint as alien conqueror, dedicated to recruit individuals with the goal of stopping other alien attacks should they happen, willingly or not, like she had done with Deathstroke two years prior.
Unlike either the multibillionaire or the century-old mastermind, however, Amanda Waller had no intention to include Doom Slayer in the Task Force X, aka Suicide Squad, for the simple reason he was simply too powerful to control, they couldn't follow him to Mars (at least yet), and it was obvious he was no mercenary they could hire or buy off. Besides, as much as she loathed doing nothing, Superman himself said he wanted nothing more than the welfare of Earth, something they could agree upon.
Then, there was the fact he apparently came to their Earth to stop an interdimensional invasion. Had he come two years ago she would have taken the statements, including his own claims of being from another dimension with a grain of salt, but after the Superman fiasco, everything was possible, and the last thing the world needed was for Doom Slayer to feel alienated and. He said their dimension was safe, but she hadn't got her position for being naive.
Of course, that would not stop her from monitorizing the man every time he came to Earth. Or spy his house from a very long distance.
"How is the research on those cloaked drones going?"
This repeated itself across Earth, with many, many people wondering about Doom Slayer and what his presence implied. Some merely saw another hero in him, if a particularly nasty one. Others saw a threat just waiting for them to show weakness before striking. Others still were worried about the interdimensional creatures that had invaded his Earth and could have followed him to theirs.
None of them knew that VEGA was monitoring them.
..........
Did I write the characters right? As for why did I choose Luthor, Ra's al Ghul and Waller, it's because Luthor was the one who broadcasted the Fortress' existence to the world, Ra's would be naturally interested in someone like the Slayer, and Waller (who's essentially Arkham's Amanda; Cadmus hasn't been formed yet) is being savvy enough to understand that they can't coerce DS to, well, do what they want, at least not yet.
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