Bruce flipped through the file Alfred had compiled for him on President Matthews, and suppressed a sigh. He still could not believe that after all this time, after so many villains, and corrupt officials, he was still surprised that someone such as the President of the United States was corrupt. That the man had done something highly illegal to keep money stored away, and had been effectively bought and paid for by shadowy businesses. If he didn't know any better he'd think that this was something Ra's had planned. But Ra's was long dead, killed by someone, somewhere, during some struggle.
Bruce placed the file on the table, and looked at the guests before him. Diana, looked lovely as always, and with a firm poise to her that indicated she had a lot to say. Arthur, with a bit of a beard, looked annoyed, Bruce knew the King of Atlantis did not like being taken away from his kingdom. Then there was Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, the modern-day Robin Hood. Bruce never knew what to make of Queen, at turns he saw himself, and at others, he saw something deeper. It was hard for him to figure out Queen, and he didn't like it.
The door opened and in walked Clark and Lois, Bruce nodded to them, and as they took their seats, Clark next to Arthur, Lois next to Oliver, Bruce spoke. "Thank you all for coming. I know that we all have other things we need to be doing, but this is important." He paused to allow Clark and Lois to settle, then continued. "Oliver has been fully updated on everything that we know so far of President Matthews, Serial Four and Maxwell Lord. He also says he has information that he thinks might be of use. Hence why he is here today." Bruce gestured for Oliver to speak, and the man did.
"Thanks Bruce." Queen began. "I've been keeping an eye on the markets, and I noticed that several companies that I'd never heard of before had suddenly done quite well on the stock exchange. I had my people consider it, and it turns out that they were founded about two years ago. During the summer months when most investigative work in Congress is shut down for the recess." Queen took a moment to allow the information to sink in. Bruce suspected he knew what the man was going to say next, his thoughts were confirmed as Queen continued. "These companies were founded with off shore accounts, located in the Bahamas and Bermuda, with strict instructions to only trade on things other companies were unlikely to consider trading on. Negative assets if you will. Consequently, they made a small fortune during the recent surge at the close of the financial year. When I looked deeper into who owned these companies, I found several shell corporations, which were purportedly set up by one Simon Lacroix, a man I know very well." Queen grimaced here, and Bruce knew why, Lacroix was a man who had been groomed by Queen's father as the successor to his brother in the Marketing Department of Queen Consolidated, but when Oliver had shown more of a knack for that then genuine business, he'd been replaced. Lacroix had never forgiven Oliver for that. "Lacroix of course denies everything and insists that he is a legitimate businessman, he threatened to have Thea sued if she pressed anymore, so I stopped looking openly. But I found something else."
"Lacroix met the President in two thousand and two, when he was nothing more than a local senator. They got on well, they talked and they shared holidays and beer and wine. They wined and dined, and then I believe from what I've read, that Lacroix introduced the President to Lord. From there things continued as par course." Oliver said.
"Do you know what Lacroix is using these companies for?" Clark asked. There was a hint of nervousness in his tone, that only Bruce recognised, well, Bruce and Lois.
Oliver nodded. "It seems that all of these corporations are taking the money they made and funnelling them into the shell corporations used by Lord and the President. It seems they're carrying out some sort of search for something."
"A search?" Lois asked. "What sort of search?"
This was where Diana spoke. "They're searching for something that has its roots in the time of Ancient Greece, when the Gods roamed the world. An amulet that is said to contain a lot of power. Enough power to destroy a God. Zeus took it and hid it away somewhere, where he believed no one could find it. But people have always searched for it. It is like Pandora's Box, open it, and use it, and nothing good can come from it."
"Where do you think this thing is?" Lois asked, taking Clark's hand.
"It is buried deep within the place Zeus left it, somewhere not even the Amazons know. Nobody knows. But we have not let their companies even try finding it. Every ship that passes through Themsicyra's waters has been seized and their crew have had their memory wiped." Diana replied.
Clark looked a little uncertain over that, and whilst it didn't quite sit well with Bruce either, he knew it was necessary. "Arthur, what information have you been able to gather?" He asked.
"There has been no activity in the waterways under my jurisdiction. The United States Government has filed no paperwork with the Atlantean Embassy, and they have not sent any covert ops into my waters. If they I had, I would know." Arthur replied. Bruce grimaced, he remembered what had happened the last time a government had tried to enter Atlantean Waters without Arthur's permission. It had not been pretty. "I have had every dock searched throughout the world, nothing has turned up. The only thing I found was a reference to a Black Manta."
"Black Manta?" Bruce asked.
Arthur nodded. "An Atlantean legend that speaks of a man who will come to claim Atlantis in the mistaken belief that he is the true descendant of Poseidon and therefore is entitled to rule over the seas. He is said to be the greatest terror that we shall face, apart from the return of Oceanus."
"Given the unsavoury characters who crowd themselves around Lord, and who were around the President before he ran, it would not surprise me if this was some sort of decoy. To get you focused on that instead of the wider picture." Bruce said.
Arthur grunted in response, Diana spoke. "I believe that there is more to that than meets the eye. I have heard of the Black Manta, and they are said to be the embodiment of thousands of years of rage of a group of people long oppressed. And whilst such a thing might be good for Hollywood movies, it tends to have disastrous consequences for society, when that rage does not manifest itself in a manner suited to the time."
"So, are you suggesting then that the President and Lord are going to be using this legend to find someone to cause such devastation that the entire world will be focused on it, and not what they are doing?" Oliver asked.
Diana did not say anything for a few moments and then said. "Yes. I believe that that is the straightest answer that can be provided. Mankind is easily distracted by big explosions and chaos; they forget the chaos around them when something big happens. It happened in the United States with the wars, it happened in Europe with many things, and it is happening now in the world with the events in Africa and the struggle that some feel is needed for equality for certain groups over others. This? This will be something that will be seen as righteous by many, and might even grant them their support."
"Then we must find out who this Black Manta is, and whether or not he can be reasoned with. Arthur, do you know anything about the name of this fellow?" Clark asked.
Arthur didn't say anything for a long time, and then simply said. "He is said to be the wrath of a race that brought great benefit to many and destruction many others, including themselves. That is all I know."
Clark nodded, and Bruce took the conversation back to its original point. "So, we know they're looking for an amulet, and for the Black Manta. Diana, this amulet, what does it look like, do you know?"
Diana nodded. "It is a band of solid gold, with black and red around the outer edges, and the image of a beast none would ever dare face themselves. The legends tell of a tale that the amulet can summon a beast, and that this beast has only ever tried to come to the world once before. Long before the New Gods existed, when the lands of man were newly formed. The titans had just been defeated and sent to Tartarus, but there was one who refused to leave. He slayed a great many of the gods, and gave Zeus the fight of his life."
"Gog." Clark whispered.
"They're looking for a way to bring Gog back," Bruce surmised. "They're looking to bring a monster into the world, to get rid of you Clark. And after that…" he trailed off, thinking it through. Bring back Gog, a being who had a hatred of Clark for reasons nobody knew, for they'd never met. Bring back Gog, have him kill Clark, demoralise the Earth and the League, and then. "They intend to pave the way for the return of something much more dangerous than Gog. Of that I am certain. They will use him to get rid of you Clark, and from there they will pave the way for something much more dangerous to come and take his place. And the League will be demoralised without your presence, they hope to make our grief our greatest weakness. Warriors do fight well when they are grieving, this is common knowledge."
"Then the choice is simple, we must protect Clark at all costs. Find the amulet and make sure that it is destroyed. We cannot risk keeping it around, otherwise some other idiot will try and use it." Oliver said.
"I shall alert my mother and my sisters to this and ensure that they try to keep anyone and everyone away from the island, and away from our waters." Diana said.
"I will double the searches around the coasts and the seabeds for this amulet. Knowing Zeus, he might well have kept it somewhere deep under the ground." Arthur supplied.
There was silence after that as they all considered this, though Bruce knew his friend was worried, Clark did not show anything, his face was blank, though Lois looked concerned, and they were holding each other's hands incredibly tightly. After a long moment, Lois spoke. "We must bring this information forward. We cannot allow it to remain quiet any longer. Surely you all see this. If the President is involved in this and he is dealing with Maxwell Lord, a man known for dangerous instability, then we must make that public."
"The President will deny it, and we have not exactly alerted the FBI to this investigation either." Bruce pointed out. "However, I shall let my contacts know that something is going on, and I shall leave them enough of a trail to find the connections between the President, Lord and Lacroix, that will be enough to put him away."
"I'll speak with my friends on the Hill as well, and let them know something important might be coming up as well." Oliver said.
Both Clark and Lois nodded. Bruce continued. "We must find out more about Serial Four, and ensure that we know everything there is to know about it before we make a proper move on Lord and the President."
"Agreed." Came the reply, the others got up and left, one after the other, until it was just Bruce, and the ear piece he wore.
"Not going to tell them that the President might be a meta human, Sir?" Came Alfred's voice.
"Negative. Not until Damian finds out more." Bruce replied. "I need more information before I present anything that could be taken out of context. You know there is a spy here."
"Of course, Sir. Miss Selina is waiting for you." Alfred replied.
"I'll be right there." Bruce replied standing up and making his way to the car.