Chương 52: Amanda Waller
Even Batman wouldn't guarantee that his technological methods would work on a wizard.
Although Avery claimed he was just an ordinary wizard who specialize in healing, Batman had observed subtle clues that told a different story. Avery's easy confidence in any situation and the aura he exuded hinted that he was no small figure in his own world.
Batman had no particular opinion on this—or if he did, he kept it to himself.
To him, if Avery didn't want to share his past, pushing for answers would be counterproductive. Forcing the issue might backfire.
Besides, only impulsive people act hastily. It's far better to uncover the truth gradually, inch by inch, until you're ready to strike.
So even though Batman used satellites to monitor all of Gotham, in this case, he restrained his overwhelming urge to control. Like a seasoned hunter willing to wait through wind and rain for the right moment, he lay in quiet anticipation, poised to act.
And, as usual, Batman's patience paid off.
The next morning, after a sleep-deprived Dick dragged himself off to school, and Bruce—due to a meeting with a new district attorney named Harvey Dent, arranged through Gordon—prepared to meet with him as Bruce Wayne, Avery unexpectedly went out alone.
Since getting the information from Margaret about the collusion between the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and a mysterious organization, Avery had been contemplating how to eliminate them.
Of course, before he got rid of them, he planned to interrogate them. He'd died far too abruptly in his previous life, and although he now understood why the mysterious organization had suddenly turned on him, he still had no clue how they had learned of his fatal weakness.
Logically, only he and his now-deceased mentor knew about it since that weakness was his teacher's final gift to him. Even though he later scattered his mentor's ashes, achieving a strange form of mentor-student "bonding."
Avery had considered the possibility that his mentor had somehow resurrected, triggering all of this. After all, for a high-level wizard, rebirth was achievable with the right precautions. If not for his own soul unexpectedly ending up in this world, he likely would have revived himself back in his old one.
Maybe his old mentor was the mastermind behind this mysterious organization, or perhaps they were collaborating, which would explain how his weakness had been exposed.
But the issue was that Avery couldn't figure out how his mentor could possibly come back. He had destroyed the man's soul entirely.
From the start, there was an irreconcilable conflict between him and his mentor. His mentor had taken him on for dubious reasons, and no matter the circumstances, only one of them could survive.
However—he was getting off track.
Returning to the previous topic, Avery held another identity within the mysterious organization—James Evans. This alias was created because the organization intended to replace Avery, this "ordinary person," with a duplicate in order to infiltrate Batman's inner circle and monitor him.
Honestly, Avery found this plan rather perplexing. Did Bruce, as a regular human, pose some kind of threat to them that warranted such elaborate surveillance? And on top of that, the surveillance really seemed to be just surveillance. Despite all this time, there had been no assigned missions targeting Batman; it was as if they had completely forgotten about the task.
Avery sensed that there was more to this than met the eye. Just because Bruce wasn't a threat now didn't mean he wouldn't be in the future. But noticing how everyone around him seemed to understand something he didn't, Avery refrained from asking questions. He couldn't yet probe anyone's memory, so the situation remained at an impasse. He decided to stay undercover for the time being.
Yet…
Avery thought about it. He wasn't so driven by the need for the truth after all. Rather than allowing these people to linger and potentially pose a threat to Bruce, it would be better to drive them away for good and ensure they never returned.
With this resolve, Avery narrowed his eyes.
He had no attachment to his original world, so any lingering truths from that past were of no importance.
With this thought, Avery made a quiet but firm decision.
As more superhumans began to emerge, the United States government's focus on other nations' policies visibly diminished. Instead, there was an increase in regulations concerning superhuman activity.
The reason was simple: when your own house is on fire, there's little energy left to worry about the affairs of others. Ordinary political issues were one thing, but the threat posed by superhumans could not be ignored.
After all, when someone can soar to your house in the blink of an eye and kill you with little effort if they find you disagreeable, even the most powerful people begin to lose sleep over it.
Consider, for example, the Amazons on Themyscira, an island undetectable by advanced technology; the Atlanteans under the sea; the Flash in Central City; Green Arrow in Star City; and recently, Gotham's Batman, who even appeared on TV, becoming a brief sensation.
Human satellites had even begun spotting a man in a primary-colored suit flying through the skies over Metropolis.
All these instances nearly drove high-ranking officials to baldness with stress, and after considerable debate, a new department began to take form.
Amanda Waller became the government's full representative regarding superhuman affairs.
On this particular day, Waller was enjoying a rare day off, seated on her couch watching TV. The screen played a popular soap opera in which a billionaire CEO fell in love with a Cinderella character—a worldwide reminder of humanity's shared taste for such tropes.
Waller snorted in disdain, finding the storyline ridiculous. She reached for the remote to change the channel, but just as she pressed the button, a figure suddenly appeared before her.
Amanda immediately dropped the remote, grabbing the gun hidden beneath her cushion. Sparing a quick glance to check it hadn't broken, she returned her attention to the man standing before her—a white-robed figure with striking white hair.
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