If one thing was for certain, it was that life was never written in stones. Destiny, fate and all things which were to explain preordained events were false in his mind…his mind was like a blank slate, containing everything but yet enough space for real and logical factors. That was the mind of the dark knight, one filled with nothing but an emptiness of darkness. Slowly, he leaned back on his seat and allowed himself a chance to breathe in, just for a moment of rest.
"You could at least take a few hours rest, Master Bruce, it'd do you some good, sir.", a British accent sounded behind him, almost not posing of any value in his mind. He didn't need to look behind to know that Alfred was standing right behind with a steaming cup of coffee.
"Rest can come later, things need to be sorted out.", he said, his the fatigue in his voice sounding more and more evident.
It had been over thirty hours since he'd met his copy and to be honest he had doubted it for a while, he still doubted it but his paranoia won over all the time. It was better to be ready than being caught off guard. He needed to be certain before taking measures to ensure safety everyone. Gotham came first, then the world second.
"Sir, Luscious Fox has been calling you for a while now trying to get you into a meeting, plus the press has been trying to find where the Gotham prince has vanished to.".
"Tell Luscious that am busy, and as for the press, give them something to chase…maybe a hotel booking in Hawaii. Just anything to get them off my back.", he said, his voice growing more irritated before placing his attention back on what was flashing on the computer screen.
He heard his oldest and dearest friend begin to walk away before making a decision.
"Alfred, what's your take on the Olympian gods?", he asked, hating himself for using the word "gods".
"My take is that gods are just people who believe themselves to be higher in authority and power. If a person sees himself as a god and makes others who are naive enough believe it, then the person becomes a god. That's my take on it.", the old man said and walked away, leaving the cup of coffee behind.
Gods…religion. Well, that's something he found hard to stand by and claim existed. The world was full of people with capable gifts; some so powerful that they could lift up an entire continent. He'd seen first hand what those powers were really capable of. when they used their powers for great deeds of good, they became heroes, the epitome of peace, hope and justice but when they took their power over people, they create fear…and when they seemed invincible, then they become gods. But that was for others to believe and fall for, for him, he had no room for such luxuries. His plans had to be calculated…no flaws…no room for luck…for the situations that were going to unfold; he had to apply everything in a cold hard math form. And he didn't care who got caught in the crossfire…not anymore. Gotham was priority one and the world came next.
A deep sigh escaped his lips as he began to notice how tired he was. Every bone in his body seemed to creak and every muscle strained to keep moving but he dared not give in to them, he had no time for himself, no time for rest. Taking this mission was his one goal now; the Justice League was not part of his listing. They didn't want him there, they didn't see the logic behind his contingency plans...they found it abusive of the friendship they believed existed between them. Well, friends are enemies who haven't attacked yet...and in a world growing with meta-humans, it was only a matter of time. And if the information was right, he'd need those plans.
"Computer, access contingency plans, alpha clearance.", he said, his voice renewed with energy. Soon the screen on the large computer began to flash with information. He checked them and left his warm cup of coffee left by Alfred to remain where it was and cool.
He'd needed help to protect Gotham…but not from the Justice League…Gotham was still his turf.
.oO0Oo.
"The meeting's finally over.", the Man of Steel spoke as he stood tall before the members of the league. The leader was what people saw him as even though the league was originally a democratic based one. Around the table sat the other members. They were the Flash who was busy fidgeting in his seat, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. All seats were filled with the exception of one.
"Before we go, the budgets for the maintenance of the watchtower seemed to have increased. And the incident with Flash at Washington DC hasn't yet blown off, so we'd need to make things effective and keep disciplined, property damage should be reduced as much as possible.", Superman said, his eyes mostly pointed at Flash who seemed to smile at his handiwork.
"That building was coming down anyway, how was i to know that using a going round it would speed up the process.", he said earning a chuckle from Diana.
"And...Uh", Superman paused.
After a year with one of their founders out, things were slowly falling apart. Managing the league was one thing, but really managing it was a whole other ball game.
"I guess this is the end.", he said, his smile beaming to everyone, before he could talk more, Flash blew away, leaving him fuming a bit.
Yep, the place was falling apart.
Diana stood up and walked out, not giving a glace to anyone else who seemed to have lost interest in anything. There was a general boredom in the whole league; everyone wanted some sort of action which seemed to vanish altogether. Slowly, she walks to her room, her mind nearly blank but thoughts lingering on the near death experience everyone had experienced about a year ago. Most didn't want to admit it but the league was beginning to fall apart, not in their duties but rather how things were managed and when tactics came into effect. Flash was just fast and doesn't plan; Superman was rather just a brute force for stopping the enemy...no one was in the planning and tactics department.
She placed her thumb and the door to her chamber opened, but something was off...the room was dark, someone was definitely inside. She drew herself to a stand and entered, right before the lights came on. Instantly, she fell on one knee to acknowledge the presence in the room.
"Goddess Athena, you grace me with your presence.", she spoke, her voice filled with faith, joy and adoration.
The goddess before her in a white garment with a shield in one hand and a spear in the other smiled, her eyes glowing with pride.
"Diana of the Amazons, a task awaits you, the gods have a plan for you to execute.".
Diana raised her head to dare look at the goddess of her people.
"What do you seek from me, my goddess?'', she asked, earning a smile from the goddess of truth, of reason and of victory.
.oO0Oo.
The night seemed to drift darker as two men sat near the Gotham harbor, their minds swimming with alcoholic delights as they gulped down the bottles of whiskey they had. It wasn't the rich life others had but it was their shred of way of living the high life. They were dressed in tattered clothing, showing their homeless and out of touch nature. Gotham wasn't kind to people who were out of touch with society.
One man stood up and stumbled away, his steps misplaced and his vision blurry. Slowly, he made his way to stand just at the edge of the harbor and smiled to nothing in particular. Facing the sea, he unzipped his trouser and begun urinating into the sea. With his eyes closed, he enjoyed the pleasure of such release, not looking at the dark sea in front of him. Not seeing the dark smoke which seemed to creep closer and closer till it was right in front of him.
"Now that's a release.", the man said before hearing a slow growl. His eyes slowly opened and the almost empty bottle of whiskey in his hand dropped. Before it even toughed down, the man was gone, his position filled with blood. The cloud crept on.
The other drunk who was trying not to doze off noticed his friend's disappearance and stood up, shaking and dizzy. He looked towards the harbor and froze. The bottle dropped and his trousers filled with urine. Sweat immediately sprang up every where on his skin and tears streaked down his cheeks. Though he was drunk, he knew death when he saw it.
The smoke just engulfed the man and muffled his screams. Hideous creatures crept out of the darkness and some flew overhead…demons from the underworld. Death had been unleashed on Gotham. And it's saviors were on their way.