The Registration Act

by RedHood97

The US government is imposing registration upon the costumed heroes of the world, but the Justice League won't just allow it to happen. No, they will not. But it could include a loss of one of their own... Disclaimer: I own nothing! I am making no profit off of this story. It is the property of DC Comics.

1. Chapter 1

The Registration Act

Chapter 1:

"What did you say? Sir?" Superman asked slowly, trying to process what the President had just announced via commlink to the founding members of the Justice League. "I do not like repeating myself, Superman, and I think you heard me quite well; as of 10.00 am this morning all superheroes are required to turn over their secret identities to the United States government if they wish to continue to be heroes. Otherwise we will be forced to arrest them and imprison them…" the President's speech died down slowly as the Dark Knight of Gotham rose from his chair in the shadows. "No." He stated calmly and quietly, the President looked at him in shock, "What do you mean, 'no'? It wasn't a question, I was telling you! You don't get a choice, this is happening whether you like it or not. And if you refuse to comply then I shall be forced to set the newly reinstated Project CADMUS on you and you shall be arrested and imprisoned, potentially indefinitely." All talk had died down in the meeting room; no one was speaking, Flash barely dared to breathe. After what seemed like hours Batman said just three words before cutting the communications feed. Then, without saying a word to anyone, he left. They all sat there reflecting on what Batman had just said to the President of the United States of America, "Let them come."

Chapter 2:

The President sat in the Oval Office and thought about the conversation he had just had with what was probably the most powerful group on Earth. In fact, they weren't even ON Earth, they were floating above it in an orbiting space station like gods hovering above mortals. If the CADMUS files could be believed some of them were gods, or at least like gods. His mind trailed back to the Batman's words, "Let them come", he wasn't afraid of him. That much was obvious. The thought rattled him slightly, he wasn't afraid of one of the most power people on Earth, a man who commanded one of the most powerful countries on Earth. It was insane. Then again, there were rumours that he WAS insane. There were lots of rumours about the Batman, even the CADMUS files were built on rumours and they had done extensive research on all of the Justice League. He would have to get them to focus on Batman, he mused, the rest could probably be persuaded or manipulated into agreeing to the Registration Act but something told him that Batman would defy the Act to the very end. He couldn't have that, it would incite rebellion among other heroes if Batman defied it; other heroes that possessed powers and that could prove to be catastrophic. No, he thought, Batman would have to be taken care of. One way or the other…

Chapter 3:

Batman sat at the giant, supercomputer in the Bat cave, monitoring a camera that he had managed to place in the Oval Office two years ago. It appeared that the President was planning his next move. "Well, two can play at that game Mr. President." He muttered to himself. He sat and considered what the President's next move would be, it would probably be to monitor him. He'd have to be careful, he'd have to retreat back into the shadows for a while. Maybe I should start stockpiling more weapons, he thought. He'd have to make sure that all ties between Bruce Wayne and the Batman were erased completely, he couldn't have them knowing that. As he began erasing all possible ties between his two identities, Batman thought, "Your move, Mr. President."

Chapter 4:

Amanda Waller stood in her office gazing at a video screen that had an uplink with the Oval Office. "When will CADMUS be fully operational, Director Waller?" The President asked grimly. "Within the week, Sir, we are just setting up the necessary equipment and then we shall be full operational. Why, is there an emergency that requires the services of my people?" The President appeared to think before saying, "There is no immediate emergency, but I would like all of your research teams to focus on the vigilante known as Batman, I believe him to be the biggest threat to the Registration Act. He also appears not to be intimidated by the knowledge that CADMUS could come after him. That suggests he knows what he's dealing with. So, I want to know everything about him, be it rumour or solid fact. You have the full support of the United States government to help you fulfill this mission, but keep it in the shadows. We don't want him knowing that we're after him. Surprise may be our only advantage. You have your assignment." With that the President cut the feed for the videoconference. Amanda Waller paused for a moment, thinking over what she had just been told, they are going after Batman first. She reached for the phone on her desk and typed in a number that would reach the Head of the Research Teams. "This is Waller, we just got our orders. Your first assignment is to research all information regarding the Batman." She winced slightly as she heard the man on the other end of the line (a man who had been in the military for nearly twenty years) fall out of his chair with a bang and curse.

Chapter 5:

Batman stood before the other founders and said, "The President is coming after me first. He will be sending CADMUS research teams after me and soon. That means that I will have to disappear for a while. Don't worry about supplying the Watchtower, I've rerouted the supplies through a number of dummy companies and sub-corporations. I've sent some of the orders through Queen Incorporated to try to throw them off. Any questions?" He suddenly realized that the other founders were staring at him with a mixture of confusion and alarm on their face. "How do you know that they're coming after you first? Surely a more logical choice would be Superman, since most people view him as the leader of the League?" Wonder Woman asked both of these questions with confusion clear on her face. "It may appear more logical," Batman said, "But I know for a fact that they are coming after me first." Green Lantern asked, "And how, exactly, do you know this for a fact?" The answer that followed left the founders with shock clearly etched onto their faces, "I bugged the Oval Office." He said it as though the answer was obvious. Superman broke through his shock first, "Y-you spy on the President? Of the United States?" Flash asked another question before Batman could answer Superman's, "Isn't that illegal? I mean re-ally illegal?"

"Apparently being a hero is also illegal, but yes, I believe it is an offense that requires the death penalty. And Superman," Batman walked towards the door as he said this, "I spy on everyone." And he left the room with six shocked and slightly disturbed superheroes.

Chapter 6:

"So, what do we know about him?" The President asked Waller, who stood in front of his desk. "Not very much, Sir. He's been active in the Gotham area for about 10 years. He is one of the founding members of the Justice League, and he can easily incite fear among both criminals and civilians. Even a lot of the superheroes on the League appear to be afraid of him. The rest of what we know is mainly rumour and guesswork and it is all in this report." She dropped a slim folder onto the desk in front of her. "That's it? The full power of the United States government is searching for information regarding one man and this small folder is the result?" Director Waller considered her next words very carefully before saying, "He appears to be very adept at staying in the shadows, even more so than the first Project CADMUS." She immediately regretted bringing up the first Project CADMUS, whom she had led, because the President's face darkened at the mention of the organization that had been founded without the consent of the government. "That will be all, Director." She saluted and left the Office.

Chapter 7:

The founders (apart from Batman) all sat inside the Watchtower meeting room. Superman asked, "Has anyone seen Batman since the last meeting?" Everyone shook their heads, as far as they knew Batman had not been on the Watchtower since the last founder's meeting. "I have not been able to pick up his telepathic signature," J'onn stated calmly. "Which means that he is currently not in the United States." They all paused as they absorbed this information. It left them with two options. "I suppose he could've left the country…" Superman said carefully. No one wanted to mention the other option. That CADMUS had caught up with him. "He did say that he would have to disappear for a while." Wonder Woman said uncertainly. "I wouldn't worry about Bats, nothing can hold that guy." Flash said jovially. But it was clear that they were all considering the possibility that the US government had captured Batman.

Chapter 8:

Dick Grayson tumbled out of bed at the sound of his phone. "What?" He said blearily. "I need your help." Dick was immediately awake. He had not been expecting that voice or those words, Bruce asking him for help? It wasn't possible. "Why?" He said. He tried to keep his voice in check, he and Bruce had not spoken in nearly three years and a lot was said. "The Registration Act. The government's sending CADMUS after me." Dick paused, taking this in. he had retired from crime fighting a year ago, deciding to help people through his police work. "I'm retired Bruce. What do you want me to do?" He said it with more anger than he had intended to. Bruce appeared to ignore it. "I need you to take control of Wayne Enterprises. I've already signed the papers naming you CEO in my place. All you need to do is sign them and watch the company." Dick was lost for words. "Why? Why do you need me to run your company?" Bruce made a noise of exasperation. "Because I am currently on the run. Don't worry about creating an alibi for Bruce Wayne, I've already got it covered. I am currently mounting climbing in the Himalayas and will be doing so for the next month or so. All you need to do is watch the company and help Alfred keep an eye on Tim." "Wait! What about Tim? He's Robin! Shouldn't he be on the run with you?"

"I've retired him from active duty for the present time, as I have done with Oracle. I've also locked down the Cave and sealed or destroyed all exits except for the main hangar door because that's the one I left through. I have also deactivated all power to it and I've sealed all of the back up caves and weapon stashes. I have destroyed all evidence that still existed that linked us to Batman." "Where are you then? I mean, I assume you're still active as Batman otherwise you'd be running the company as Bruce Wayne." Bruce paused, considering his answer. "I am currently at an undisclosed location, it's best if you don't know where in case they discover a link that I've missed. But I will tell you that I am not in America and that I probably won't call either you or the Manor for at least the next month. Maybe two. The League don't know where I am either. I couldn't risk telling them in case they've bugged the Tower. I left a note with Mr. Terrific though to upgrade the security and check for bugs or hacks in the system. Other than that I am completely off the grid. Watch yourself, Dick," and here Bruce's voice turned deadly serious. "I don't know for certain how much they know or how much they could find out. So watch yourself, and watch out for Tim and Alfred too. If this goes wrong we could have war on our hands. A war between the government and the League, and I know for a fact the government can't win and it's extremely important that the League don't win. That would be bad for everyone. Watch yourself." At that last word the connection ended and Dick stared at the floor for a few minutes. Then he began to pack and called work to say that he needed some personal time for a while, a long while. After he had done that he called a taxi to take him to Gotham City. A taxi to take him home.

Chapter 9:

Batman sat in a cave. It wasn't THE Cave, just a cave. The Batwing was parked nearby and there was a laptop and a phone in front of him. Well, he thought, that's Bruce Wayne's life taken care of. Now I need to worry about the Batman's. He packed up the few things he had brought with him and moved into the darker reaches of the new cave where he was building his base of operations. He glanced towards the entrance, snow was falling heavily. He wouldn't be able to leave until morning. He built up a fire and laid down on his back and closed his eyes and waited for morning. In the morning he was going for Waller.

Chapter 10:

Superman was beginning to get worried. The League hadn't heard from Batman in nearly two weeks. Normally that wasn't unusual but with the government's Registration Act it was worrying. The League were getting reports of unregistered heroes getting dragged from the streets by armed soldiers. More superheroes were joining the League each day, most even moving onto the Watchtower to be safe. There were even dark mutterings that CADMUS was building it's own team out of registered heroes. There weren't many at the moment but there soon would be. But he didn't know what to do other than accept the new members and offer them any rooms they had left, the Watchtower was beginning to get crowded though and they were having to have timeshare on bedrooms. That was another reason why he was worried about Batman not being there. Batman always had a plan, no matter the circumstance. In fact he would be surprised if Batman hadn't already planned for this eventuality. Where was he?

Chapter 11:

"There have been disturbing reports from Gotham," J'onn said gravely to the other founding members. "It doesn't sound like Batman is even in Gotham. Mr. Terrific and I have dispatched other heroes to try to cover but it is having very little effect. There are currently six Leaguers in Gotham and they are only about half as effective as Batman. I am worried, not just for Batman but for Gotham. Gotham needs its Dark Knight. And it needs it now." The original seven (minus Batman) thought about J'onn's words. They had never really considered how effective Batman was until he was actually not doing it. They found it a little hard to believe that six Leaguers were not as effective as one man. Even if that one man was Batman. Superman's earlier thoughts came back to him: where was he?

Chapter 12:

It was morning and the skies were clear of snow. Batman stood at the mouth of the cave and stared down. The new cave was roughly 500 feet in the air and could only be reached by flying. He had been gone two weeks, not just sitting idly in a cave, but gathering information. He had travelled the world. England, Russia, Africa, China. All were following in America's footsteps and initiating a variant of the Registration Act. It was worldwide and it had only been in effect for around two weeks. It had to be stopped, now. It was time to visit Amanda Waller…

Chapter 13:

Amanda Waller walked into her office and sat down in her chair behind her desk. A gloved hand reached past her and leaned on the desk. "Director Amanda Blake Waller. We meet at last. How was your meeting with the President?" She spun around in her chair and leaned back from the caped figure in front of her. The Batman leaned towards her, "What's the matter? Scared?" he said this mockingly. Her eyes hardened and her hand reached towards her desk drawer for her gun. "Why should I be scared?" She asked. "I see nothing to be afraid of. Just someone who is too afraid to step into the light." Her hand was inside the drawer and was grasping the cool grip of her gun. "Why are you here?" She asked coolly. The Batman glared at her for a couple of seconds before replying, "I'm here to shut you down." She laughed at him mockingly and stood up sharply, the hand holding the gun behind her back. "Really?" She asked. "And how are you planning on doing that? With some gadget from your belt?" She sneered at him before continuing, "You're nothing but a joke. A mortal pushing himself in among gods. You stand no chance of being their equal. And even if you believe you are, you are never leaving this facility… alive." On that last word she whipped the gun around and emptied the clip into him. He grunted in pain, two of the six bullets had gotten through his armour and entered his stomach. He jumped and pulled himself back into the ventilation system through which he had entered. Waller grabbed the phone on her desk and spoke over the announcement system, "Emergency! Priority alert! Batman is inside the facility! Security, by order of the President, you are authorized to use deadly force to take him down. He is wounded and currently in the ventilation system. GO!" She put the phone down and smiled. Finally, something positive to report to the President.

Chapter 14:

Batman crawled through the small tunnels, wincing in pain every so often. The two bullets that had pierced his armour were still inside his body. That was bad. He needed to get out and get to the Watchtower. He turned a corner and burst out of an external opening and jumped the fence beneath him. He ran, slower than usual due to his injuries and, when he was about a mile away, put his hand to his ear and activated his communicator, "Watchtower, Activate Emergency Teleport Sequence Batman-9-1-9-3-9." He just began to crumple to the ground as blue light enveloped him.

Chapter 15:

Mr. Terrific stared at the terminals in front of him in shock. Something had taken control of the teleporter pads without his authorization. That wasn't possible, they needed the authorization code from the Watchtower to work. He pushed a button and sirens began to sound across the station. The founding members arrived in seconds along with a security detail. "What's the situation, Mr. Terrific?" Superman asked with concern clearly written on his face. "Honestly, Superman, I have no idea. Something is teleporting up here without me authorizing it. The government might've hacked it and they could be sending up CADMUS troops. So I sounded the alarm." Superman nodded and flew down to the teleporter pads with the other founders following. Blue light began to glow on the pad and a familiar figure began to form. They were all smiling until they saw the blood. "J'onn! Prep the Medbay for immediate surgery!" Superman shouted as he rushed forward to catch Batman as he fell to the ground. As he caught him he felt Batman slip something into his hands and saw him glance at him before slipping into unconsciousness. He flew Batman to the Medbay where J'onn and the medical team set to work on Batman. Superman left the room and looked down at the object in his hand. It was a flash drive. "What's that?" Green Lantern asked as he got close enough to see his hand. "Something Batman obviously thought was worth his life." He said without looking at him. He glanced up at him, "Call the other founders to the meeting room, we need to see what's on here. Oh, bring Mr. Terrific too, it might be encrypted." If it's Batman's, he thought wryly, it's probably encrypted as well locked with passwords both numerical and alphabetical.

Chapter 16:

The founders (minus Batman and J'onn) and Mr. Terrific were inside the meeting room. Superman handed the flash drive to Mr. Terrific and he set to work hooking it up to the computers in front of them. "It's not encrypted." Mr. Terrific said, "It isn't even password protected." This shocked the founders, Batman protected and encrypted everything. "What's on the drive?" Green Lantern asked. "By the looks of things, information. Information regarding CADMUS and the Registration Act." Mr. Terrific continued searching and then he swore. "I don't know how, but Batman has gotten hold of data that only CADMUS would have. There are also reports regarding other countries following in America's footsteps and initiating a Registration Act. This must have been what Batman was doing for the last two weeks. Hold on a second." He typed on the keyboard in front of him for a few minutes and then said, "There's a video file called 'Waller'" he looked at the founders who all nodded for him to play it. A screen lit up showing Batman's face. It began to speak, "If you're watching this then my mission was a success and I have managed to break into and out of CADMUS. Here are some things you don't know but need to. 1) the Director in charge of CADMUS is Amanda Blake Waller, she also ran the first Project CADMUS. 2) CADMUS main headquarters are not located in the United States, they are located in the Himalayas. The coordinates are among the files on this drive. 3) they have access to teleporter technology similar to that of the Watchtower, they may have other types of advanced technology. 4) I do not know what information is on this drive because I only will have had time to copy everything off of the hard drive. 5) I do not know why I am unable to tell you these things in person, but you can find out. Go to my body, on my left gauntlet there is a small pocket on the back of the wrist. Inside there will be a small disk that will contain first person footage of everything I have seen, heard, or said in the last twenty-four hours. And finally, 6) do not dare to try to look under my mask, I will know. You wont like what you find under there anyway. If anyone tries to remove my mask bad things will happen, it contains security systems that can severely injure someone foolish enough to try." The face on the screen turned, scarily, to look at where Superman was sitting, "And that includes you Superman. In case I do not see you again alive then go inside the compartment on my belt to the left of the buckle. Inside there is a communicator, speak into it these exact words 'The Knight Has Fallen. Activate Emergency Protocol 1, Access Code Batman-9-1-9-3-9 Enter.' It should take care of everything. In the event of my death all supply orders will be moved to Queen Incorporated as opposed to my usual source. That is all, Batman Out." The screen went blank. They all looked at each other. Batman had planned everything down to the smallest detail while the League had just sat there and done nothing. But that was exactly what Batman had expected them to do. Superman then spoke, "Mr. Terrific, please start sorting through all of the information on that drive. I think the rest of need to see that disk."

Chapter 17:

"How is he, J'onn?" Wonder Woman asked with concern in her voice. J'onn looked at them all before answering, "He is stable for now, but he was shot multiple times, only two of which pierced his armour but the rest hit hard enough to crack his ribs. It is a wonder that he managed to escape on his own. We have managed to remove the bullets from his body, but one of them pierced his lung. We managed to stop the bleeding but we will know more if he survives the night." Green Lantern spoke, "We need to see him, J'onn. There's a disk in his glove that will tell us what has happened to him." J'onn merely stepped aside and gestured for them to enter. They all stopped in the doorway when they saw Batman. He was covered in dried blood. There were two stitched holes in his stomach where the bullets had entered. Superman approached his left side and gripped his gauntlet. Suddenly he found himself being flung to the other side of the Medbay. He was shocked, Batman had thrown him. Again, he thought wryly. He looked closely at Batman and realized that the Dark Knight was still unconscious. The other founders began to chuckle as they also realized this fact. Superman stood and stretched, it hadn't hurt anything (apart from his pride) but it had shocked him. Wonder Woman approached and said, "Would you like me to try, Kal?" There was mocking in her tone but the question was serious. Superman gestured for to try. She nodded and approached the unconscious Batman, she gently reached for his hand and was surprised when it shot out and grabbed her wrist. She looked at his face, it was turned towards her. He reached for his wrist and pulled out a small disk that was hidden in his gauntlet. He passed it to her and then let go of her wrist. He then pushed himself up without even a grunt of pain and began to attach his cape to his cowl. "Batman, I must insist that you rest. You will pull the stitches and you are still not out of the woods yet." J'onn said all of this with concern in his voice. Batman glared at him and said, "I've had worse." He then walked towards the door but Superman stood in his way. "Get out of my way," he paused and said under his breath, "Kent." Superman looked shocked and numbly stood aside. Batman nodded to him and continued walking. Wonder Woman looked with concern at her friend, "Kal? What's the matter? What did he say?" Superman stood in shock for a few minutes before saying, "He knows my secret identity. He just muttered my last name under his breath. Just loud enough for me to hear him." He looked at the rest of the League in shock before shaking himself and saying, "We better look at the disk." They went back to the meeting room and watched the disk in silence. They all visibly winced as they watched Waller pull a gun on Batman and open fire. They heard Batman grunt in pain as the bullets hit and they saw what he saw as he left the facility. Flash whistled softly. They knew Batman was tough, but that tough?