Chapter 2: Justice Is Served
WASHINGTON D.C.
OCT 7, 14:16 EST
Lex Luthor stood before the Supreme Court on the day of his trial as the charges against him were on the level of national security; illegal manufacture, transportation, and attempted selling of weapons; illegal experimentation; extortion; tampering of evidence and witnesses; and obstruction of justice concerning the American Citizen Protection Act. How Batman had managed to discover that he had been scapegoating the Justice League was beyond even his brilliant mind, but it mattered not. Luthor still intended to stay out of prison, obstruction of justice or not. It mattered not that the founders of the Justice League were now focused on him, or that they had been allowed to appear as witnesses of Luthor's crimes. He wouldn't be stopped by these heroes in the field of battle or in the courtroom, or so he thought.
"Alexander Luthor, you have heard every charge. What is your plea?" said the Chief Justice Roberts.
Luthor looked up at the bench and answered, "These are all false convictions, Your Honor. These vigilantes have done but point the finger of accusation at me when they are no less in violation of the law as the next man."
The Chief Justice frowned at Luthor, "The court reminds the defendant that we are not here to debate the actions of the Justice League. Furthermore, you are aware that they arrested you on federal orders."
Luthor grumbled under his breath, but quickly retained his composure and said, "Then I will be blunt. We both know that I am innocent of these accusations, and therefore I will continue to deny the validity of the claims against me, unless the vigilantes have a way of proving otherwise."
That's when Batman took the floor and said to the court, "Watch the screen, ladies and gentlemen."
He then used a holo-recording device to project the whole summit meeting of Luthor with the rest of Injustice League, revealing everything Luthor had said about the transfer of funds for the production of Venom, which was outlawed in almost every nation. Luthor's plan to overturn the vote on the American Citizen Protection Act was revealed, as well as his plan to sell the new weaponry to the military and to the factions working for the Injustice League. The evidence that Luthor had sold weapons and stolen intel to Black Manta's pirate organization and to Intergang had been collected as well thanks to Batman capturing it live and storing the recorded evidence.
Luthor insisted that what they were being shown was fabricated by the League to indict him and his attorneys did the same, but the prosecutors replied that they had shown this evidence to Luthor's party as well and had even shown it to the evidence department, which confirmed that the evidence was solid and untampered. Not only that, but Batman's recording had managed to catch Luthor admitting that he had used bribes and gifting of money to sway many cases in his favor. This prompted the Justices to question Luthor's attorneys concerning this and after a lengthy time on the bench, each of them finally admitted that Luthor had paid them to deny his involvement in the criminal activity he was charged with.
Luthor knew that the odds were starting to tip against him, so he called in several witnesses to testify that he had never been involved in any illegal experimentations to make super-weapons out of living things. As usual, they were LexCorp employees, and insisted that Luthor had nothing to do with it until Superman objected and said, "If Luthor had nothing to do with illegal experiments, then explain this."
He then had Batman display the video evidence of Luthor clearly in a laboratory where plants, animals, and even LexCorp employees who were indebted to Luthor were being experimented on with chemical formulas to enhance their natural capabilities. The conversation that followed in the recording proved that it was Project Cadmus who had helped Luthor in the preparation of his bio-weapons and the technology he had been planning to sell under the pretense of it being for national defense.
As it turned out, Amanda Waller of Cadmus was there at Luthor's trial, and she confessed to having these unethical projects authorized, but only because Luthor had paid her to authorize them. On the bench, Waller said, "I knew from the beginning that Luthor was a snake in the grass, and I still let him bite me. However, I will state for the record that the Justice League managed to procure the evidence that Luthor successfully covered up because it had been in my keeping and I delivered it to them. Distrust or no distrust, if truth is part of superheroes' job description, then I would be willing to give them the truth. Punish me as you will, but do not let Luthor walk away from the law this time."
Luthor couldn't believe what he was hearing. For the first time, his plan to escape justice was failing. Amanda Waller's confession was only hurting his plan more, and instead of acknowledging his blame for the crimes he had committed, Luthor was still blaming Superman and the Justice League for all of it. When the video evidence Luthor had tampered with to scapegoat the Justice League was found to be his work, it only brought the walls of Luthor's security crumbling down all the more. He then tried to accuse the Justice League of setting up his trial and objected to every claim, but the Chief Justice warned Luthor that he would found in contempt of the Supreme Court if he persisted. Finally, after nearly two hours of presenting evidence and confessions, the Justices of the Supreme Court reached the verdict.
"The Supreme Court of the United States of America finds Alexander Luthor guilty on all counts," declared Chief Justice Roberts. "And because your actions have constituted a major threat to national security, Luthor, we sentence you to maximum security prison from ten to twenty years without bail and without parole."
The founders of the Justice League watched with varying expressions as the bailiffs cuffed Luthor and led him away with all the dignity he could muster. To the surprise of many in the Supreme Court room, Superman was watching Luthor being taken away with a look of immeasurable shame.
...
BELLE REVE PENITENTIARY
OCT 9, 15:15 EST
Once detained in his cell, Luthor finally let out all the anger he felt at his defeat at the hand of Superman and the Justice League. It mattered not to him that the evidence was truthful and overwhelming, or that he had been essentially tried for threatening the security of the United States. In his depraved mind, Superman was to blame.
"SUPERMAN!" he howled. "YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS! I'LL SEE YOU DEAD IF IT TAKES FOREVER, YOU HEAR THAT?! I'LL SEE YOU DEAD YET!"
At Project Cadmus, Amanda Waller was in her new office on Sublevel 26. While she had admitted to approving Luthor's illegal experimentations and weapon production, the Supreme Court had ruled that she would receive a year of probation rather than prison time as she had helped the Justice League bring Luthor in at last. While she couldn't say that she had finally left behind her wariness of the Justice League, she was glad that the League had practically crippled Luthor's Injustice League.
At the moment, Ms. Waller was speaking with Professor Emil Hamilton of S.T.A.R. Labs and a number of Cadmus' top scientists who had been given a few month's probation for secretly helping Ms. Waller help the Justice League.
"A new partnership begins between Cadmus and S.T.A.R," Waller was saying. "Now that Luthor's finally imprisoned for subverted the law and the Injustice League is no longer of any concern to us, the board of directors has agreed to place me at the top in Luthor's place." She said to Hamilton and to the others, "Professor Hamilton, as the new of Project Cadmus, I am appointing you the head scientist here as well as at your own facility. As such, there are going to be a lot of changes around here. No more secret breeding projects to make weapons out of living things. No more illegal weapons' tech, no more bribes, no more plans to fight superheroes or scapegoat them for what real criminals do. This is a kinder, wiser, more peaceful Cadmus, and if Luthor doesn't like it, that's his tough luck."
Prof. Hamilton smiled for the first time in a long while and said, "Then S.T.A.R. will be happy to provide the necessary aid in our new and more legal business matters, Ms. Waller. We owe it to the American people and to the Justice League, after all."
...
Superman and Wonder Woman smiled as they watched Ms. Waller's video feed from Cadmus on the Watchtower, and even Batman couldn't hide his gladness. With Luthor finally exposed as a criminal and Cadmus no longer under his wing, a real victory had been gained for virtue and right, and now it would be some time before Luthor or the Injustice League would trouble the innocent again.
"It's good to know that there are those in power who are standing for justice," said Superman.
"I'd say today is one that we have earned," Wonder Woman added. "Let us celebrate this victory."
"Way ahead of you, Diana," came the voice of Green Lantern. He and Flash and Captain Marvel were on the main deck with soft drinks and coffee for everyone. The Justice League was glad to be celebrating a moment of peace, but they had much more to do to keep society stable. After all, people everywhere still needed shoulders to lean in troubled times, and when those in power couldn't help, the League would be there. It was just a matter of time.
A/N: This fanfiction is based on the Young Justice episode "Summit", in which the Team retrieves information from the Light which exonerates the Justice League from the charge of attack on the planet Rimbor and then dissolves the Light-Reach alliance and breaks the Light in two.
Also, the title of this story is based on the Bible verse "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."- Proverbs 16:18.
Let me know what you thought of this fanfiction if you like, and keep your eyes open. My next Justice League story will be equally exciting and have more to tell.