Hi! The end is approaching fast, less than 10 chapters left. I'll make sure they are all out before the end of 2022.
As a reminder before reading this chapter, there may be some misunderstanding with superhero or villain names, so I invite you to use the internet to find out who they are when you have a doubt ;). The story is too rich in characters, easter eggs, fanservice, references from various comics and others, so soon I invite you to research :D there is nevertheless an index, but with some information only.
PS : Captain Marvel, aka SHAZAM, aka Billy Batson, is a DC Comics character.
Chapter 25 : Si vis pacem...
"And we can add the Marceau twins," said Nightwing in a weary tone. "AKA Double Dare. "
"And also Clayface, and Black Spider," added Batman.
Nightwing turned his head towards him:
"Wasn't that one dead? "
Batman shrugged.
"Obviously not, he tried to kill me to fulfill a contract Double Face put on my head, again. You can add him to the list, too. "
Tim sighed:
"That's it, there's no one left to add? "
Nightwing and Batman looked at each other.
"No," they said in unison.
They looked up at the screens in front of them. Robin was sitting in front of the keyboard, and the other two were standing right behind him. They heard the sound of Jay's motorcycle and paid no attention to it.
"I think we've made a lot of enemies, Bruce. "
"That means we've done our job well. "
Before them, the list of enemies who would belong to this mysterious Injustice League was growing.
"It reminds me of the Legion of Doom, remember? "
Batman nodded.
"I remember it well. But it was much smaller than that. We managed to dismantle it before they made their move. "
Robin sniffed.
"Either way, it really sucks. "
Nightwing nodded, agreeing with the younger man. They then turned to Red Hood, who was coming towards them, removing his bloodstained mask.
"Well, on my side, everything's fine! "
There was blood all over his outfit, dirt and burns. He put one of his filthy boots on the edge of Tim's seat and took out his ankle knife to wipe the blood off.
"What did you do, Jay?" Dick asked hesitantly.
"A lot of spring cleaning. It's been a while. But then, there's no one on my side to add to the list!"
Batman pushed Todd's foot away and wiped his chair, grumbling:
"How many people have you killed? "
Jason pointed an accusing finger at him:
"You see how you are? You think I killed people. "
"Jay, answer him," Dick said, pulling his mask away from his face.
"When I left, they were all alive. "
"Where did you leave them? In a desert, in pieces, with no hope of help? "ask Bruce.
Red Hood shrugged, pulling off his brown jacket.
"You said it, not me. Besides, there's no desert around here. Anyway, that's my business. You can take Bizarro off the list, he's clean. "
Robin removed the guy in question from another list.
"How can you be so sure?" Batman asked.
Red Hood grinned.
"Bizarro hates Superman, but he's pretty cool otherwise! No, seriously, I talked to him and he didn't really like finding out about Project Kr, so he let everyone down. And he gave me a nice list of names, at least the ones he knew. "
He then took out of his pocket a sheet of paper folded in several times, quite stained and crumpled.
"Since when are you friends with Bizarro? "
Jay winked at him and smiled.
"No fucking idea, but it's handy to work with him. "
He tried to smooth out the paper on his leg, then frowned as he looked at it, trying to decipher its writing.
"Uh, so he told me there was...Jinx...Mammoth...Poison Ivy, Killer Croc...the Sphinx, Mister Freeze... - Boy, you two are really out of your league! - Major Force...Toyman... Mirror Master...There's also Grundy, Despero... Black Adam... Circe... Deathstroke: I got him. With the Joker. "
They already knew most of Jason's list, but one more confirmation was better than none at all.
"The battle ahead is not one for personal vengeance. We will have to be content with neutralizing and imprisoning them. The law will take care of the rest, wherever it comes from. "
"This rally is more than personal, Bruce. It's not to defend Jason, but how many of the guys on that damn list have we put in jail ? How many of them want us dead? Whatever you say, it's personal. "
Batman was about to answer when the elevator opened behind them. J'onn then reverted to his green Martian appearance as he arrived in the Cave. J'onn didn't like to risk being seen in his true form.
"Well! You seem to have made some progress !" Diana said, looking at the screens.
Bruce nodded.
"How did your session go? "
He looked at Conner, who answered very simply:
"Good. "
He would have thought he'd heard Jason, when he was his apprentice.
"Conner is an outstanding student. Clark wasn't exaggerating about what he told me," J'onn explained. "Besides, where is he? Is he still resting? "
Batman nodded.
"I'll tell him to come by the Tower. "
"Then we'll go, J'onn. See you later, boys! "
"Bye ! " they said in unison.
J'onn greeted them all silently, and with Diana, they flew to the exit via the waterfall. Dick turned to him:
"You should go see him. "
"I'll go. "
Bruce had played piano for Clark for hours. Of course, he'd taken breaks in between, and he'd even played a duet with Tim, teaching him to play the blues, a style he liked a lot but didn't play much. But tonight, he wasn't going to play.
Bending down over Clark's face, he stroked his fingertips over his cheekbone and then followed his jaw line. He hadn't moved one iota from the couch since the night before.
"Clark, wake up. "
He heard his grunt, stirred slightly, then finally opened his eyes.
"How long was I asleep? "
Bruce felt himself smile slightly.
"More than a day. "
Clark sighed as he rubbed his eyes, then sat up.
"Did J'onn come by? I told Diana we were here. "
Bruce nodded.
"They both came by. They spent the day in the park with Conner. "
Bruce's property was so large that inside his park they were sure not to be seen by any visitor. Clark got up from the couch and stretched. Bruce straightened up as well.
"J'onn didn't come here to double-check if Conner was reliable. What ability does Conner have that neither you nor Diana can help him? "
Clark stretched a smile across his face, realizing that Bruce was definitely not losing his way, and didn't like to be left without answers.
"You're far too perceptive. Conner has a kind of touch telepathy, more of an instinctive gift according to him. I think it comes from his genomorphic side, which made his creation compatible. I asked J'onn to help him protect himself from it. "
"Protect himself from it? "
The Kryptonian put a sheepish look on his face.
"Well... J'onn says it's more like a kind of empathy. So... he just touches the wrong guy at the wrong time and... big emotional shock. "
Bruce read between the lines.
"And he touched the wrong guy at the wrong time. That's how you found out. "
Clark nodded.
"He tried to wake me up. J'onn said his gift only seems to work one way, so... he didn't really have much luck. "
"And what did the Fortress say? "
"Nothing we didn't already know. It recognizes his Kryptonian heritage, but as with Kara, it doesn't recognize him as a... administrator. If he wants to get in, he'll need the key too. "
Bruce was somewhat relieved that Conner couldn't open the Fortress.
"And this key, did you get it when you got the Fortress? "
Clark shook his head negatively.
"I don't know where it is either. It's... hidden. I guess. I hope so. "
Bruce couldn't contain a sigh at Clark's lack of professionalism. For him, not knowing where things were hidden didn't make them protective. He was about to open his mouth to ask another question, when Clark walked to the door and said:
"You'd probably kill me if I told you who I entrusted it to so... I'm keeping the mystery! "
Bruce grumbled as he followed Clark down the hallway.
"And what are you going to do now? "
"Get to work. I'm leaving Conner in your hands. "
"You're not leaving tonight, right ?" Bruce asked.
Clark opened the front door of the mansion.
"You've been working all day, and probably last night too. My turn. I'll see you at headquarters."
Bruce then watched as Clark walked out into the yard, gained momentum and took off. They hadn't even talked for more than five minutes.
When Batman arrived in the main lobby of the Watchtower, he noticed that it had been a while since he had seen so many people milling around inside without being summoned. They were all working on the Injustice League, more or less, and they were taking turns at the consoles, recording, looking up other data that had been put in. Batman had come partly for this.
He inserted his new data and compiled it with the existing data, before making a copy of everything there was, just to be sure. There were already more than seventy recognized members, all of whom were enemies of at least one League member. It was clearly a vendetta against them, they hadn't even chosen new partners in crime. All of them had more or less this common goal of wanting to kill them.
Apart from the first circle of vigilantes, there were many enemies of the Titans, the Doom Patrol, Steel, Major Force, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel... Many of them were common enemies of the League, whom they had to face as a group. There were even entire groups of enemies. If Luthor was in charge of them, he deserves credit for finding a way to bring them together without them all killing each other.
After finishing what he had to do at the console, he looked around for the Kryptonian. He had told him he would be there, but he had forgotten to tell him the time and the room. Batman sighed and went to the monitoring console. He passed Dove and Elasti-Girl on the way, who would obviously be in the battle. Batman hadn't had time to talk to the other groups and pairs, but he knew Hawk and Dove would be there, as would the Doom Patrol and the Metal Men. Boston Brand had also told him that his group would be there, but he didn't know about the wizards, including Constantine.
Batman snapped out of his thoughts and searched the console for the Kryptonian. The Tower recognized every registered member of the League and he just had to look up the name of the superhero to find him. Superman was in one of the special training rooms with other heroes.
"Oh, good, I was looking for Arthur! "
He turned to the Flash, who had just appeared behind him.
"Hi Barry. "
"Hi Bruce. "
The two heroes glanced at each other, staring at each other without moving. Barry finally smiled contritely.
"Are we okay?" Barry asked.
Batman nodded.
"We're okay. "
Flash let out a sigh of relief and then smiled again as they walked side by side down the hallways.
"What about Clark? He apologized for the last time, but I didn't really get a chance to have a real talk with him. "
"It's going to take him some time to process this. "
Barry made a small face before entering the elevator for them to change levels.
"Yeah, that's understandable. I heard he's been living at your place for two days? Not too uptight? "
"I saw more of Conner than Clark, actually. Clark needed his rest. "
Flash laughed.
"Well, from what I can gather, he's in pretty good shape. "
They heard a loud crash against the metal wall and entered the first room.
"Damn it guys, you've ruined my construction! Take it easy! "
Barry's and Bruce's eyes went first to Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who had materialized a beach chair with his ring and was watching the fight in front of him while eating popcorn.
"Oh, so that's where you've been hiding!" said Barry, crossing his arms with a reproachful look on his face.
Hal made a protective wall against the walls of the room.
"It's actually great to see them practicing. I'm saving the room for the Metal Men, they'll come and train there afterwards. If the room doesn't need repair after them. "
Batman and Flash looked at the fight ahead. From what they could make out, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were fighting together against Superman and Aquaman. Wonder Woman and Aquaman were fighting with their weapons, with Diana equipped with her sword and shield and Aquaman, having donned a stronger scale armor, was fighting her with his trident. Captain Marvel and Superman battled with their powers.
Bruce's eye was then drawn to the outfit the Kryptonian was wearing. He no longer had the blue and red colors of Superman, but was wearing a sort of black jumpsuit with the symbol of the House of El sticking out on his chest in silver. Seeing Clark in such a dark outfit was really unusual. Plus, he didn't have a cape.
His eyes did not leave the Kryptonian, whose every muscle was moving under his outfit and no cape was blocking his view. Damn, he was really hot in this outfit. The black, it really suited him. Too good. His blue eyes were the only color he had and they stood out even more than usual. Bruce tried to turn his attention to another person, feeling his body react when it was very inappropriate. He folded his cloak down in front of him.
"Since when does Clark wear black? " asked Barry.
Hal shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe it's his camouflage outfit. "
"You think? "
"I don't know. Yours makes you look black, mine doesn't make me glow, so why not? "
Bruce wasn't sure.
"I don't think it is. "
They looked again at the fight taking place in front of them. They were really going at it. It almost looked like a real situation. They looked like they had been fighting hard and even had some cuts in places for some.
"SHAZAM! "
They were all surprised when the magical lightning bolt struck Marvel to restore his appearance as Billy. Instinctively, Flash, Batman and Hal wanted to intervene as Clark grabbed the kid and threw him across the room.
"Get me once, not twice! "
Flash started to run when Bruce grabbed him by the arm.
"SHAZAM! "
The lightning struck Billy again and turned him into Captain Marvel, who crashed into the wall without a scratch.
"I hate it when he does that!" cried Barry, who crossed his arms over his chest as if to sulk.
They then saw Hal materialize a megaphone:
"You have 5 minutes left! "
The green megaphone disappeared and in front of them, it displayed a giant stopwatch like the ones you used to see in stadiums.
"What are you going to do next?" Barry asked Hal.
"I'm going to practice too. Everyone else is practicing. We'll just go to our field, I'll try to isolate Sinestro from the fight. "
Barry pouted.
"Are you guys going to shoot each other into space? "
Jordan nodded.
"We'll turn it over to another team. I've got too many things to take care of here before I go back."
Bruce made no comment on Jordan's situation. He didn't care enough about him anyway, let alone with what he knew now, to want to worry about it.
He turned his attention back to the fight in front of them. The determination on Clark's face really made him look like a warrior, the effect accentuated by his beard. Bruce thought he understood the meaning of the outfit. But he would ask Clark when he was done. He then saw Clark, slightly distracted, take a hit from Captain Marvel followed by one from Wonder Woman.
Clark then grabbed the Amazon's lasso and wrapped it around her neck as Aquaman trapped Marvel under his trident. Wonder Woman pointed her sword at the Kryptonian's throat. Batman knew that the Amazon's weapon was formidable, and that even the Kryptonian could be hurt.
"Are you sure of your decision, Kal-El? "
Batman saw the lasso shine on the Kryptonian from a distance, and he growled.
"Princess Snips !... I'm not sure! Are you happy?! "
Diana grinned and lowered her sword, Arthur pulled his trident from Marvel and Clark dropped the lasso with a grunt. They all straightened up, the clock disappearing before it could ring.
"You should put on your warrior outfit, Diana", Arthur advised as the four of them walked back to them.
"It's on the agenda, Arthur. Even if I don't fight Ares, the others are still formidable. Cheetah and Circe will do me no favors, and the feeling will be mutual. "
"You're not going to try to help Priscilla anymore? " asked the man from the sea.
"No. I am done with her. I'm running out of patience. Cheetah has taken complete possession of her body and Priscilla doesn't seem to want to fight her way out. She's already gone back twice after I freed her. "
Arthur nodded and then saw Barry waving to him. Their two groups were facing each other.
"Arthur, there's Mera waiting for you in the main hall. She seems determined to join us. "
The Atlantean king sighed wearily.
"I told her not to come. It's not her place. "
Clark laid a hand on the king's shoulder.
"She's doing her duty. She wants to support her king and protect her son. "
"I should never have told her that Brainiac was interested in my and Arthur Junior's telekinetic abilities. "
They all grimaced, not knowing what to say. Batman didn't even know what Brainiac had wanted from Arthur, other than his knowledge of the Atlantean people. Now he knew.
"Just tell her it's too dangerous for her? " tried Captain Marvel.
Arthur laughed, while Diana and Clark smiled slightly.
"Well, I don't know about my wife's past, but I can tell you one thing: if she risks her life, then I'm screwed! Mera is a formidable warrior. "
"If she comes, who will protect Arthur Junior? "
"Absolutely all the royal guard, including Aqualad. He would have liked to be in the fight with us, but I can't leave my son completely alone. Even though these guards are loyal to me, I don't want to take any chances. "
"He's well protected, then. "
Arthur smiled broadly as he rubbed his thin blond beard.
"He's probably the most protected little boy right now. "
A smile stretched across everyone's face, except of course Bruce's.
Jordan left them as they exited the room and as the others headed for the great hall, Clark stopped:
"I've got to pick up something, see you later! "
The others greeted him as they continued to talk and Clark let the group pass him. By pure reflex, Bruce had stopped too and as soon as they were behind them, Clark grabbed his arm and pulled him along.
"You're putting all my senses on alert," the Kryptonian gasped as they took another elevator.
The look he gave him made Bruce involuntarily shiver. The super-senses. He tended to forget them. He cleared his throat before changing the subject, so as not to expose himself further.
"So, you're wearing a black suit now? "
He seemed to probe him before stepping out of the elevator.
"I am Kal-El, last son of Krypton, guardian of my people's legacy. I would not stand against them in any other way. "
Batman nodded. Then he wouldn't take up Superman's mantle. That said a lot about his future as a vigilante. It gave him a twinge of guilt. To think that maybe he wouldn't become Superman again.
He snapped out of his thoughts as Clark's hand gripped his wrist tighter. Even through his reinforced glove, the grip tightened like a vise. The next moment, they entered the Kryptonian's private quarters, and he let go when the door closed behind them. Bruce could see that many boxes were piled up in the room.
"What aren't you saying?" he asked, pointing to what was around them.
Clark grinned at him.
"There's some equipment S.H.A.D.E. gave me, and some artifacts I got out of the Fortress. "
"And what are you going to use it for? "
"This is a piece of equipment that will protect me from kryptonite. The rest are little things from the Fortress that I wanted to have on hand. "
Clark approached him. Close. Really close. Bruce couldn't back away: he was too entranced by Clark's presence so close to him. Their lips were only inches apart. That simple fact obsessed Bruce for a moment. Now it was happening to him again, to have these ideas.
"You have a way of screwing with my mind, Bruce," Clark murmured.
Bruce closed his eyes as Clark brushed his nose against his jaw, then kissed the skin of his neck lightly.
"To mess with my emotions... "
The Bat was unable to react when he felt his hands rest on his hips as the kisses grew more urgent against his skin. He'd been hoping for this for so long...
Clark grunted as he pulled away from Bruce's neck, the interruption causing his eyes to open again. The Bat wanted more. So did his body. This time, he grabbed Clark's face with both hands and kissed him. The Kryptonian responded immediately to the exchange, sticking their two bodies together. The excitement soared for both of them. Bruce reached for the edge of the new black suit while Clark had already removed his belt from the Bat.
They separated again because of Clark.
"We have to stop. You're going to drive me crazy and I don't want to do anything we'll regret later. "
Bruce was moved by the warning. But he knew the Kryptonian's fears were serious.
"I'm a consenting adult. You don't have to protect me just because I'm new at this. "
Clark looked into Bruce's eyes. His eyes were so dilated that he could only see a blue circle around them. He was obviously controlling himself to do nothing more.
"Bruce... "
His hoarse voice almost camouflaged his distress.
"You got yourself into this situation. "
He saw Clark grit his teeth before answering:
"You're the one who's getting excited about looking at me! That's all I could feel and hear! "
"Can you really feel it? "
The look he gave him, gave the impression of a predator ready to pounce on its prey.
"Really, yes. It's a heady smell... "
Clark was about to approach again when he stepped back. This time, he walked over to a crate, rummaged around behind it and seemed to retrieve his League communicator. He quickly consulted it.
"I've got to get to Zatanna. She keeps calling. "
Bruce realized why there had been all these little interruptions. He followed Clark as he left the room. Obviously, the thing to get was the communicator. As they entered the hallway, Clark suddenly stopped. Lowering his eyes to his crotch, he closed his eyes for a moment to inwardly insult himself.
"I can't just walk past everyone. "
Bruce grinned and couldn't contain it as he looked down at Clark's conspicuous, well-molded erection.
"That's a problem we can solve if we go back to where we came from. Otherwise... there was the cape. "
Clark sighed.
"I'm going to fly out. I'll tell Zatanna to meet us at the Manor. I guess you'd like to know what I want from her. "
Bruce nodded, grateful.
"Good flight. "
Batman barely had time to warn everyone that Zatanna was on her way when the magician appeared in a burst of light.
"That's quite an entrance," Tim commented when he saw the magician.
In her showgirl outfit, Zatanna really looked good. She lowered her hat in front of them.
"Well! I didn't think there would be so many people here! "
She glanced at the four boys in the room, then at Batman.
"Where's Kal? He told me to meet him here. "
"He's on his way. He thought it best to come up for air. "
Zatanna nodded and smiled widely. Whatever Clark had asked her, it seemed to excite the magician.
"I hope he won't be too long, I'm so excited! "
"About what?" Dick asked.
Conner let out a sigh before answering:
"About the Fortress. "
The rest of the group frowned, even Jason. But there was no time for questions. Clark arrived, the Fortress crystal in his hands.
"Hi Zatanna! Sorry I'm late. Did you get what you needed? "
The magician conjured a mysterious magic cube in her hand.
"This better be worth it. "
"The Fortress is always worth a look. "
Dick stepped forward:
"Wait, are you going to open the Fortress? Can I come? "
The Kryptonian smiled.
"It's a guided tour today. Enjoy it. "
Jason and Tim got closer in less than two seconds. Batman and Conner were calmer.
"So, let's go!" the magician said. "Ot eht htaeD yellaV ! "
A second later, they were in the middle of the desert. Clark got out of the group and threw the crystal further. When it hit the ground, the earth shook slightly and crystals rose from the ground to stand between them. The process took several minutes, until the Fortress of Solitude was formed. When the construction was complete, Clark stepped forward through the spikes, followed by the small group.
"Where's the big door?" Dick asked.
Clark chuckled.
"Wow, it's been a while since it was on display. I made some changes, you'll see. "
Zatanna frowned as she turned to Nightwing.
"Have you ever seen the Fortress? "
Dick and Clark looked at each other, then shrugged:
"We'll say that," they replied at the same time.
Their synchronization confused Tim and Jason. Dick continued, as they approached.
"She looks a lot less friendly this way," Dick commented.
Bruce didn't know it had looked any different before. He wondered what it might be when Clark spoke:
"By the way Zatanna, how did you manage to get the artifact so quickly? I thought it would take you a while. "
The magician grimaced as Clark touched the wall in front of him.
"Turns out Constantine needed a favor. That asshole. "
Bruce knew a little about him and wasn't surprised at Zatanna's treatment of him: from what he knew, saying John Constantine was an asshole was pretty nice. Then the door opened to the Fortress and Zatanna activated her little cube: little bluish lights came out:
"Nacs eht aera."
Batman watched the lights twirl around the room. Immediately the chrysalis-like robot appeared, tentacles out and eyes glowing. Clark immediately intervened:
"Calm down Kelex! Intrusion accepted. "
The robot retracted its tentacles and resumed the same shape Bruce had seen before. Clark apologized to Zatanna.
"Sorry, he sensed your energy and doesn't like it. "
Zatanna smiled at him.
"Wow, it's really nice here," Tim marveled.
"You haven't seen everything yet," Conner replied with a smile.
"It does look good, but I expected better," Jason commented as he looked at the control crystals.
"It's a hallway," Clark defended himself, a little offended.
The Bat already knew the place. He gave Zatanna some time before questioning her.
"What did you have to do to get him to help you back? "
Zatanna gave another smile.
"It turns out that after a poker night with demons went wrong, he summoned Etrigan. I might as well tell you that Jason Blood, his host, didn't appreciate John using his demon and making him lose control. Especially since after that, Etrigan was locked up in Arkham. John wanted me to free him and in exchange, he let me into the House of Mysteries so I could get that little cube. "
She pointed to the object in her hands.
"I don't know this guy, but he sure looks like an asshole to me," Dick commented as he walked toward the back of the Fortress.
"I like this guy," added Jason.
"I don't think anyone here is surprised," Bruce replied.
Jay just flipped him off as the Bat turned his back on him, while Clark looked on reproachfully at the door. From the door a white mass burst forth and snarled at the intruders.
"Calm down Krypto, they are my guests. "
The Kryptonian dog glanced at the others, then walked over to Conner, who came over to pet him.
"Did you call him?" asked Conner.
"The Fortress makes a peculiar sound when it opens. Krypto hears it. "
"And you didn't?" asked Zatanna.
Clark joined Dick and the group followed him.
"No, I can only hear her alarm, fortunately. "
They all frowned at his comment, but no one asked any questions as he walked down the famous hallway that Bruce hadn't had access to.
"What's down there? "
"The heart of the Fortress. "
The corridor opened up into a huge room, hundreds of feet high, revealing a giant golden door, with an equally large key in front of it. At first glance, it looked like gold, but Bruce suspected that it was not. It seemed to float thanks to an antigravity device.
"How can it be so huge? "
That was a question they were probably all asking themselves. Clark just laughed, then darted for the key.
"I see you still put that damn key in front of the door!" Dick shouted reflexively, even though the Kryptonian could hear him from a distance.
His voice echoed in the great room as Clark pushed the huge floating key into the air. The sound of the mechanism was so loud that it made them react and they moved toward the golden door. When they got there, they felt small. Very small indeed. No doubt the door was heavy.
Clark pushed it open. The door must have been armored, from what Bruce could tell, and about three meters wide. When the space was large enough, Clark stepped back down in front of them.
"Well, for those of you who don't know, meet Kandor. "
Batman looked at the city before him. He had never seen anything like it in his life. It was breathtaking. In front of him lay a pristine cobblestone walkway, with exotic plants in planters, buildings hundreds of feet high, lines of what looked like air transportation, and most importantly, in its center, a huge statue of two people holding up the Earth with one hand. Two Kryptonians, a man and a woman.
It was incredible. They were looking at a real futuristic city, completely ghostly, and yet they could see a flock of birds in the distance. Clark had told him that there were creatures living inside the Fortress. He had never said how.
The group remained silent, too absorbed in contemplating the surroundings. The orange light of a false red sun gave a warm atmosphere to this empty place and no one dared to venture further. Yet when Dick took the first steps, the group quickly began to disperse. Clark spoke softly in Kryptonian. A robot, similar to Kelex, arrived. It displayed several screens in front of the Kryptonian, who quickly looked at them before sending the robot, named Kelor, away. When it disappeared again, Bruce turned his attention back to the place.
He found the place really beautiful. He was absorbed by the architecture and the layout of the buildings in the city. It could easily hold thousands of people in all that. It was incredible. All this big, beautiful space, and yet no one to live in it. It only reminded him how lonely Clark must have felt.
He snapped out of his thoughts when the silence was broken by Dick.
"It's still great. You've done a hell of a job renovating Clark! "
The Kryptonian landed right next to the first Robin.
"It had to be. But it's not finished yet, and I'd like to add something. "
Dick nodded. Somehow Bruce was a little jealous of the teenager, who shared that memory of Kandor with Clark.
"Oh, speaking of that, how are you doing with the R.M.S. work? "
Clark seemed to think about it.
"I have to admit it's been a while since I've worked on it. "
"Is it still in the same place? "
Clark nodded.
"Two blocks to your left. Why ? "
Dick rolled his eyes.
"Are you serious? The others have to see this! Follow me! "
They were all so intrigued by Dick's eagerness that they followed him. Zatanna and Clark walked at the back of the group, talking among themselves. Batman was curious. Too curious, really.
Then they stopped when they saw it. Holding visibly in the air thanks to a kind of gravitational ray, they could all contemplate the famous R.M.S. Titanic*, the liner known to have sunk in the cold waters of the Atlantic. No way.
"The Titanic ?!" exclaimed Tim. "This is the REAL Titanic ? "
Dick patted Tim on the shoulder.
"The real thing. Impressive, isn't it? "
"I don't get it, in the movie it's cut in half, right? "said Jay.
Bruce closed his eyes for a moment to restrain himself from throwing a dig at Jason.
"Arthur helped me get it out of the water one day when we stumbled upon it. I've been renovating it for a few years. "
"And he's done a pretty good job of it," Dick added. "Clark hangs out in it sometimes. We even got to eat in the first class lounge! "
They all turned to the Kryptonian, who blushed with embarrassment instantly.
"You slept on the Titanic, Clark? The Titanic. And me with the service that I return to you, you don't even propose me a night inside! "
The brunette turned back with a disgruntled step and Clark glared at Dick before going to get her.
"Zat', wait. I'll show you the inside, I promise! "
"You'd better! Well, I'm done with all that, I still have to work! Teg edisni won. "
The little lights came back into the box.
"What will you doing with that?" asked Bruce, remembering that he didn't know what the magician was doing.
"Zatanna was copying the interior of the Fortress. "
Bruce didn't really understand the point.
"For what purpose? "
The magician winked at him.
"To trick Brainiac: I'll create a fake Fortress of Solitude. "
INDEX
Legion of Doom: Another group of Justice League's arch-villains with the classic roster: Luthor, Toyman, Solomon Grundy, Scarecrow, Black Manta, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd... Super-villain groups have always had many names but often with the same members (the JL's nemeses). In other versions (animated or in comics) this was not the case.
Bizarro: Bizarro, a slightly "messed up" version of Superman, teams up at one point with Red Hood (the team leader) and others (Starfire, Arsenal, Artemis) to form the anti-hero team the "Outlaws".
Superman's Black Outfit: Refers to The Death of Superman, an event where Superman dies against Doomsday. When he resurrects, he has very long hair and wears a black Kryptonian outfit without a cape. At that moment, he has amnesia and doesn't recognize his allies anymore (does it remind you of anything? ;) ).
Mera : Arthur will know the origins of his wife only during the event " The Brightest Day " during which Arthur resurrects and finds Mera. Before his death, Arthur and Mera had a son, Arthur Junior, who will die by Black Manta (lack of water to breathe) while he was still a baby. This will separate the couple, despite the love they have for each other. During their reunion, after Arthur's resurrection, Mera confesses to him that she belongs to a people of mermaids exiled by his father/ancestor and who hate the people of the surface (Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle solved). She is one of the daughters of the Mermaid Queen, who all have the same powers as Mera. She was the designated assassin to kill Arthur, a half-human, half-atlantean heir. She saved him rather than kill him, fell in love with him and... you know the rest.
Titanic: In "All-Star Superman", Kal-El pulls the old ship out of the water and repairs it inside the Fortress. We see the boat several times in the pages.