A/N: This is Act 2, please read Act 1 ( s/7083098/1/Justice-Lords-LIMITLESS-Act-1-ReBirth) if you haven't yet. If you use the app, and/or the link does not work, you can find Act 1 on my profile along with information regarding Justice Lords Limitless.
The Trinity left the water's edge and gathered around the large table before the Batcomputer. As they settled into place, two shadows emerged from the Armory.
"Batgirl. Robin," Batman acknowledged his partners, "I wasn't aware you'd entered,"
"Then we're getting better," Batgirl responded. She fidgeted a bit more with her left bracer, "Is it just going to be us?"
"No," Batman replied, "The Justice League cannot be a one-time thing," His eyes wandered to the commemorative cases of uniforms held by his past allies. Barbara Gordon's uniform sat on the mannequin, damaged and worn. A testament to the woman's unshakeable resolve even after so long.
Dick's uniform had not been returned. Instead, Richard delivered a letter in place of the Nightwing uniform. A letter Batman would read later. He actually wasn't sure where Richard had left to after the chaos on the streets had been settled, but he hoped deep down that Dick would join his side again in the mission to come.
"Batman's right," Wonder Woman agreed, "The world needed the Justice League two days ago and it will need it in the coming future. The world will always need a Justice League,"
"Is that so?" Queen Mera ascended the stairs to the main chamber from the dock, her daughter in tow, "If the Justice League is to exist in this world again, just know that Atlantis will be keeping a sharp eye on them,"
"You still do not trust us," Batman stated flatly.
"No," Queen Mera flared her nostrils and corrected the man, "I do not trust him," she jabbed a finger at Superman, "One wrong person in power again and how can I trust him to not torch them? Regardless of the evil in their hearts, how can I trust the League to not be the judge, jury and executioner?"
"Because they'd have me, sweetcheeks," Green Arrow stepped out of the sublevel cave and climbed the stairs to the main chamber with Arsenal closely behind, "If the concept of Justice Lords even drips out of any Leaguer's mouth and I'm there, it won't even make it to the public because I'll be there to squash that thought like a bug,"
"So you're their thought police?" Queen Mera arched a brow at the archer's choice of words.
"Okay, I used the wrong terms, but you get what I mean," he looked to Arsenal, "Back me up here, Speedy,"
Arsenal stepped away from his green-clad mentor and joined Batgirl and Robin at the table, "You're on your own, G. A.," he said, "There are some messes I can't bail you out of,"
Green Arrow looked back to Queen Mera and caught a hint of a smile tickling her cheeks, "You are a foolish man, archer. Foolish... but good,"
A golden hue filled the cave and Inza stepped out of an ankh-shaped portal and into the main chamber, "Are we late?" She asked, the Helmet of Fate cradled under one arm, "Did we miss it?"
From behind her, Katar emerged, wings proudly at his back, "You really believe they would dare start without us?" His grip on his mace relaxed as his keen eyes found Arsenal, "Hail, Speedy!" he greeted with a toothy smile.
Arsenal looked to Green Arrow, "You didn't…"
"So what if I did?"
"Are we all here?" Batgirl looked around the 'Cave, "Is this the whole coalition that took down an eldritch abomination?"
"All that would and could come," Batman replied. Then he addressed the room in full, "Two days ago the world was flung into chaos. Ra's al Ghul had triggered the end of the world as the former Martian Manhunter pitted heroes against one another," he took a pause for effect, then continued.
"We stand here today, victorious, not because of any one person's actions, but rather the actions of the group as a whole. Every member that helped save the world that day was necessary and needed, not one extraneous. Everyone had a role and carried it out to the best of their ability. And because of that teamwork and drive, we won,"
I'd be lying if I said I could have done it alone or with only Batgirl and Robin. Everyone that day played an integral part in saving our world. That night, I inducted all of you into the Justice League and you all agreed. However, it could easily be said that there were some among you who joined under duress. The situation was dire, the future bleak, and I wouldn't fault you for joining up in a last ditch effort to save the world,"
Batman paused again and looked over everyone present. No doubt a few before him held some apprehensions against reforming the League for good. There weren't as many heavy hitters as there were before. In fact, the humans would vastly outnumber the metas if everyone present joined, but maybe that's what the last Justice League lacked? Humanity.
"So I ask again, now that the world is no longer on the brink of annihilation, will you join the Justice League?"
The question hung in the air for a few seconds. He already knew Superman, Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Robin were on board. The question was for everyone else present. Katar was the first to answer.
"Yesterday, I joined Fate in her sanctuary. After we ensured all Gotham citizens were out of the Oblivion Bar, she explained to me what the Justice League had been… and what it became," his eyes fell, "As horrid a perversion of justice the Justice Lords were, who am I to pass judgement? I traveled to this planet a militant conqueror; fell to this planet a humbled casualty; and fought for this planet as a stray galanx defends one who takes it in,"
"I'm going to assume a 'galanx' is a type of dog," Arsenal muttered.
"I was under the impression that this world was primitive, barely space-faring and thus it was alright to conquer in the name of Thanagar and ending the Gordanian threat. But now I see I was wrong. This world is filled with the tenacity of life and that must be preserved! This Justice League did what the armada of Thanagar could not: they saved the universe from our own discarded god. And for that reason, I humbly accept your invitation to be a warrior of the Justice League,"
Katar stepped forward and placed his mace before Batman ceremonially, "You have my mace," he gave Arsenal a side eye, "The mace of Hawkman,"
Right behind him, Arsenal stepped up, "If he's in, I'm in. Regardless of the Justice League's history, we did good work that day: the work people believe the League should be doing. Together in the face of adversity, we forged something powerful. Important. You all were my heroes growing up: the Justice League. And now here I am, invited to join. Why would I say no?"
Arsenal's grin threatened the grim nature of the cave, "Look, the League gets a bad rap, but to me, the Lords were their own thing. The Justice League ended when the Lords took control. That isn't the League's legacy to me, and I'm going to work hard until that isn't the League's legacy to the rest of the world," He joined Hawkman's side and Batgirl gave him a big smile.
"Alright, now look," Green Arrow spoke now, "My ward's gone off and done something without my say-so, but you know what? He's right. The reason I'm so harsh on the Justice Lords is because you were all larger than life. I could always trust that the OG seven would make the right decision. And then one day, you didn't. That day I realized you weren't gods no matter how powerful you were. You're all still human,"
Green Arrow uncrossed his arms before continuing, "Besides, you all seem to be making this League with or without me, so what better way to keep an eye on things than from within?"
"I couldn't agree more, archer," Queen Mera left her position by Mereena and joined the Green Arrow, "I have a kingdom to run. It will be hard, but I would like to also keep a fin in on the happenings of the League. And if you need help, especially on the seas, I will be there," she thumped her fist against her breastplate in a sign of solidarity.
"Another part-timer?" Superman joked looking from the queen to Batman.
Batman only grunted.
Inza stepped up with the helmet in hand, "Sorry, I zoned out there. Was talking to Nabu. What's going on?"
"The Justice League," Robin piped up, "Are you joining?"
"Oh, heck yeah! We both are!" Inza stepped up to the table enthusiastically, "Nabu said that since Elder Things still need to be cleaned up in Gotham and Star City, we'd still be of use,"
"Even after that, your powers could be put to good use, Inza," Batgirl said, "People will always need help and those that can help, should help,"
The dark-skinned girl nodded at Batgirl's words, "I understand. Nabu's provided me with a wonderful opportunity to restore order to the world. The recent events have upended the balance in favor of chaos for sure. We're going to right that,"
Mereena took a step forward, but her mother instantly snapped her face in her direction and pointed at her fiercely, "No. Absolutely not,"
Mereena faltered at Queen Mera's demand, "But, I helped, too,"
"Only out of necessity. You're too young," Queen Mera responded, "Maybe when you're older or when this 'League' proves themselves to me," she lowered her voice and looked down, "I already lost Arthur as a result of their shenanigans… I'm not willing to risk you, too,"
Mereena bowed her head but yielded to her mother's rule.
Batman looked around the table to each of the members of the Justice League. He thought for sure some of them would deny the invitation, Queen Mera especially. But he was actually happy to admit he was wrong… admit to himself, of course. He spread his fingers over the controls on the Batcomputer and brought up images, "Alright then. Welcome to the new Justice League. We have work to do,"
"What's this?" Green Arrow looked at the holograms.
"Starting small. This is a list of names connected to the events two days ago," Batman replied, "The first order of business is clearing up residual damages in both Star City and Gotham City. With Ra's al Ghul and Ubu in custody and Talia deceased, the League of Shadows is left without a head and direction. Most have fled America to return to their hidden fortresses. No doubt to regroup and decide who will lead..."
-One Week Later-
Dick Grayson reclined next to his girlfriend in her Gotham apartment and flipped through the numerous channels on her satellite TV. The world almost ended the week prior and already things were going back to the way they were. Though Gotham and Star City was the most affected and the northeastern seaboard suffered greatly as well, the world was now aware of how close it had come to complete devastation. The world was less aware of the force that had stopped it.
As he flicked through the channels, a snippet of footage from Gotham during the End caught his attention. He switched back one channel and watched.
"...window where this person claims they hid. You can see what seems to be a monster of some sort fighting with a man in a black jumpsuit with a skull mask," The reporters disembodied voice spoke over the five-second clip, "Due to the shortness of the clip and the digital fragments within the video itself, it's difficult for our analysts to say one way or the other if the footage is genuine or if it is a fake,"
The clip froze again on Red-X's blurry form then the image shrank to the side of the screen as the reporter came into view, "But this does raise an interesting question on a trend we've been seeing, Men in Tights: Should They Come Back?"
Dick laughed to himself and flipped through a few more channels, "There were women there, too," He paused on another news station.
"...gunfire in Star City's First National Bank quickly died down tonight just after police arrived on the scene. Inside, officers found the would-be bank robbers unconscious and bound in rope; the leader pinned to a wall by a red arrow-"
He flipped to another station.
"Queen Mera has reached out from the submarine kingdom of Atlantis to request an audience with the United Nations. It's difficult to say why the sudden contact from the secretive and mythical kingdom, but this reporter feels it's long overdue. We share the same planet, after all,"
Another station.
"...but this reporter shares the same sentiment as Mr. Allen and admits comfort in the rumors of Superman's return,"
Dick flipped to another station, inadvertently stirring the woman sleeping in the chair with him.
"...and left suspended from a street lamp. The stolen car parked on the side of the road. While officers are still denying any involvement from the Bat, witnesses reported seeing two figures with flowing wings take down the carjackers,"
Another news station. This one had a woman in her pajamas being interviewed in the dead of night, "...they came bounding over!" She mimicked growling and gnashing then continued, "The beasts were at least seven feet tall! Tha's when I called Morty over, Morty!" she called to a man off camera, "Come ovah here an' tell them what you did,"
An overweight, balding middle-aged man strode before the camera, "I had my piece, y'know? Legally owned, by the way. So anyway, I started blasting: pow pow!" with his finger, he mimicked pulling a trigger, "but the two beasts wouldn't drop," His voice went low, "And tha's when they showed up. Batman-"
"-and Wonder Woman!"
"Outta nowhere! He took one, she took the other! Bam! Pow! Slash! An' that was it. We got the f*beep*k outta there," The man shook his head in disbelief, "The Bat's back… I saw him with my own eyes.. And with Wonder Woman!" he looked the reporter in the eye, "Mavis, I'm tellin' ya, the heroes is comin' back… and after last week's s*beep*t, I can't say I blame 'em,"
Dick muted the TV and looked to Barbara, "Looks like he really set the League back up. Sure you didn't want to join up?"
"And what? Put 'Justice Leaguer' on my resume? No thank you," she joked, "Besides, if he needs us, we can find him. After all…"
Dick looked back to the TV, "The mission never ends,"
A light illuminated the sky out the window behind the TV monitor. Barbara and Richard looked out and were met with a sight neither had seen in years: the Batsignal confidently pierced the night sky and soared across the clouds.
Babs snuggled into Dick's side and smiled, "And the adventure continues,"
- End -
A/N: Thus ends Act 2 of Justice Lords Limitless. Thank you for reading. It's been nearly ten years in the making, but this story is completed and I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm aware that 47 chapters is a lot to go through, especially for a story that had such a long hiatus, but I thank each and every one of you who read it and especially thank those of you who sent reviews my way. I have one more Act planned with a few chapters already written. When I am sufficiently happy and ahead, I will release the next Act, Act 3. Depending on feedback to these stories, I may write the shorter Act 4 and post it as well as write side stories to further flesh out this Earth. As always: Please read and review. And thank you for putting up with this story's erratic release.
-Thothakhronos