Chapter 5
When the Justice League told the world that they would be giving a speech at the UN, every news source capable of attending had rushed to be there. Still, none of them had expected the entire Justice League roster, including their reserve members like Green Arrow and Black Lightning to make an appearance. Even Martian Manhunter was present, and he rarely ever appeared with the Justice League. The chance to get a sight of the fully assembled Justice League all in one place had almost everyone on Earth watching the broadcast. Cameras flashed in the large crowd as Superman floated down from the sky to speak with Cyborg, all of them completely oblivious to the uncomfortable expression on their faces. "Where's Batman?" Cyborg asked. Superman responded, "That's what I was just going to ask you. He didn't tell us where he was going, did he?" Cyborg shook his head, but just then, someone in the crowd yelled and pointed up, and all cameras in the crowd rose like a wave to point at the sky. The Justice League looked to where the cameras now pointed and saw Diana slowly lowering from above, carrying Batman by the hand. But what surprised them all was that Batman was carrying a hogtied man in one of his hands as well. The man was tightly tied up in a thin, black cable and he was badly bruised all over his body, with heavy swelling especially around one of his eyes. The man wore a nice suit, but it was badly rumpled up and covered in dirt. Batman threw the man onto the ground as soon as they were only ten feet off the ground, and the man collapsed on the stage next to the podium. Diana gently lowered Bruce to the ground in front of the microphone, then landed herself and stood slightly behind Bruce on his left side. Clark went to stand in the same position on Bruce's right as the rest of the Justice League stood in a long line behind them, so that the famous Trinity stood together in the front and were all backed by all of the Earth's mightiest team of heroes.
All cameras panned to face Batman and the world held its breath as they waited to hear how the Justice League would react to the terrorist attack that had destroyed Batman's home. Then, Batman did something unbelievable; He removed his mask. Not even all of the Justice League knew Batman's identity, and every single person in the crowd stared in shock as the legendary Batman revealed himself to be merely a man, and a very well-known man at that, one that had been presumed dead in Gotham despite his manor being unharmed by the blast. "My name is Bruce Wayne," Batman told the world. "I remove my mask before you now, telling you all who I am for the first time, in an attempt to build trust. The time for masks is over. The only way that the Justice League can inspire you now is by showing who we are. We are people. I am a mere human, just like all of you, and I need your help. I need your trust now, and I know that I don't deserve to ask for it from you, but I have no choice. The world needs to stand together now, more than ever before, because what happened yesterday cannot ever happen again. When I was eight years old, my parents were gunned down in Crime Alley, right in front of me. In that moment, I felt afraid. I felt helpless. I swore on the graves of my parents that I would never feel that scared or helpless again, and to that end, I became Batman. Then, yesterday, my city was destroyed by my own hand. I was manipulated by a madman into killing one of my closest friends, and his death triggered a nuclear weapon that destroyed the city I had suffered and sacrificed for. Joker is now seeing justice under the jurisdiction of the Justice League, but selfish criminals like him are still out there. We cannot let another Gotham happen ever again. And so…"
Bruce turned to look at Wonder Woman behind him. He had considered this part of the plan, and then he had asked Diana what she thought about the prospect of going down this path. She had agreed, and now she still nodded at him encouragingly. Bruce took a deep breath and said with steel in his eyes, "I am calling for a worldwide ceasefire. The Justice League will no longer stand idly by while evil men and women abuse positions of power to bring suffering onto innocents. I don't care about your land or your beliefs. I don't care if you're a madman or terrorist, a dictator or priest, a king… or a president." At this, Batman directed his glare at the Bialyan president on the ground in front of his feet. He didn't see the looks being exchanged behind him among the Justice League members. There were looks of disbelief, looks of excitement. There was the nodding of heads and Martian Manhunter just silently lowered his gaze in resignation, already knowing where this was going. Superman was in shock. He stood still as he tried to process what had just happened. They hadn't discussed this as a team, but Batman had gotten the world's heroes to stand together now to make this decision seem unanimous. Clark didn't want to do things this way, but it seemed that it was already too late. If they forced peace, he was afraid that mankind would only fear them.
But still, Bruce continued his speech, pointing accusingly at the Bialyan president. "You have no right to take innocent lives. This… pitiful excuse for a human being turned his weapons against the very people he swore to protect and serve. He is nothing more than the same kind of criminal that I spent years fighting, the kind that takes power and decides to use it only to cause greater problems, to prey upon the weak and helpless. No more. He is a criminal, no matter what office he used to hold, and he will be tried as one. The same goes for any others of his kind on this planet. If you are one of those monsters that think that your free will gives you the right to harm innocents, know that I will come for you. Starting now, all war, all conflict is a challenge against the Justice League, because if we can't protect you from the clear threats in your own homes, we aren't fit to call ourselves heroes. It's over." There were mixed reactions from the audience as Batman ended his address, but the most prominent among them was the cheers. Superman looked around in amazement that these people would react in this way to a clear threat, but then he understood. These people didn't hear a threat, they didn't hear the song of oppression. All they heard was one of their greatest heroes declaring that the Justice League would take a more active role intervening in crimes. Bruce was a master at weaving his words so that people only heard what they wanted to hear. In this case, he was simultaneously bringing hope to the people and fear to any governments that may seek to resist him. Whatever means he had used to accomplish it, Clark knew only one thing. Batman had just declared a war on war itself, and however this ended, it would have serious repercussions.
