The room had an ominous feel to it. The stone used to make it was of a dark quality, smoothed and polished to perfection. If it weren't for the large, stained window towards the upper part of the back wall, it would've been completely dark in there.
Beneath the window was a chair, one which sat on a tall dais, where several steps were needed to in order to climb to top of it. On the steps were two heroes: Wonder Woman and Shazam.
Shazam was sitting on the lower steps, leaning forward with his hands pressed together. He was rubbing them back in forth in anticipation, as if he were ready for a ball game to start. His red and white uniform clashed with the interior decorating.
The other was Diana, who stood with her side to the main door, one foot standing on a higher step than the other. She was perfectly posed with her strong arms crossed over her chest, a stoic look on her face. She hadn't changed much in all of her years since she had joined the Justice League. The dark pants she wore were relatively new, but she had kept her body armor, bracers, and tiara the same.
John Stewart entered the room. He wasn't the least bit intimidated by the scene before him; in fact, it took a lot to intimidate him. As his footsteps echoed throughout the room, he nodded to Shazam his acknowledgement before looking to Diana. "You do realize that stance is impractical," he said to her.
Diana smirked. "Perhaps you should say that when we actually fight."
"No thanks; the scars I got the last time we spared just healed."
Men, she humorously groaned. They were willing to put their life on the line for what they believed in, but promise them a total workout and suddenly they lost their stomach for such things. The more things changed…
"What brings you here, Lantern?" a different voice asked. The source of this one came from behind Diana, seated in the high-back chair atop the dais.
Superman lounged in his large chair, arms resting on the armrests as his hands wrapped over their smooth ends. He too had a slight uniform change. Gone was the red and blue and in its place was black armor, the infamous S symbol in white. He had done away with his cape some time ago.
"You're looking well, Clark," John greeted him. "Just shaved recently?"
Superman just stared at him. While his hard stare showed what mood he was in for pleasantries, Diana openly scowled. That name had been forsaken a long time ago; the staff knew it; the Justice League members knew it; the world knew it; hell, everyone knew. Yet, John wasn't one to let such things deter him. He was pretty much the only one that called Superman by his old, Earth name. Everyone else either called him Superman, or Kal-el.
She was rather partial to Kal.
"Why are you here?" Kal-el responded, a hint of his irritation in his voice. "I distinctly recall not summoning you."
Whatever humor was on John's face evaporated in an instant. "Careful, High Councilor. I have some news you'll find very interesting, but that attitude of yours may keep me quiet."
Ah, that was another name for Kal. It was one he had come up with after the founding of their One Earth Government. All forms of government needed a leader, even if it was a figurehead, to lead it. In Diana's opinion, Superman was doing an admirable job doing just that.
Both men stared at each other, neither one willing to give in. Shazam looked uneasily from one man to the other, unsure how this would play out. Diana wasn't concerned—each one knew their place.
A sigh came from Kal-el then. "Sorry, John, I just finished talking with China and they know how to push the right buttons. What have you come to tell me?"
John waved the apology off. "It's not much, but my and Shayera's team managed to bring in Black Lightning not too long ago."
The Amazon's eyes lit up. That was great news! One more foolish mortal out of their hair. "Where did you take him?" she asked.
"The Morgue. He didn't survive the initial encounter."
"There isn't much we can do with a dead body," Shazam pointed out then.
The young man, even if his body was that of an adult in his prime, was wrong. There was plenty one could do with a corpse. "We could make an example of him," the Amazonian Princess suggested, looking up to Kal for support.
The Kryptonian seemed to mull her words over before he gave a sharp nod. Seeing this, John said, "I'll make sure to do it where everyone can see him."
Superman gave him a look then. "You didn't come all this way just to tell me that, did you?"
The Green Lantern shook his head. "There's something else. I've managed to capture one of the Bat Underground agents. You wouldn't believe it, but the guy had the audacity to dress like Batman. Figured you'd like to have a word with him."
The very temperature in the room dropped. Though Kal-el had lost his humor, his face hardening into a scowl, Diana's was written with fury. How dare those animals use that name? That face? That uniform! It had gone on long enough that they had appropriated that mantel, but now they were trying to make their own Batman? The blasphemy!
Kal pushed himself out of his chair, which earned the Amazon's attention, not to mention John and Shazam's. All of them were surprised by the move. "I'd like to go see this Batman-wannabe," the dark-haired man declared, "personally."
It was with a groan that Batman woke up. His head hung, which gave him a good view of the floor. He also couldn't help but notice the leg restraints that covered his feet and calves up to just below the knee, keeping his legs apart. He could feel his arms stretched out to his sides and up.
Raising his head, he saw he was in a rather large cell. Most prison cells he was familiar with were small and cramped; this one looked as if it would allow an audience in. A glance to his left showed a long table that crossed from the front wall to the back. It was at the far end that he saw his belt and cape.
Finally, he turned his attention to the arm restraints, seeing that they covered his hands and arms up to the elbow. Testing them, he twisted his arms back and forth, even pulling on them and getting nothing for his effort. The very scene reminded him of his imprisonment on the Kalanorian Mothership.
Someone had obviously been taking notes.
Taking in a deep breath and releasing it, the dark-clad man reflected on how he had gotten here. Green Lantern's surprise attack had stunned him and left him in a compromising situation. He rather deserved his current accommodations for dropping his guard like that. Then again, that Lantern had attacked first before asking questions was different. The man he knew would've been on guard, demanding answers before launching an offensive. Restraint—which was something he admired about the man in a group of people that often went by their guts—was certainly missing in this picture. He was positive that was the John Stewart he knew, yet he was definitely different.
That would have to be a mystery he solved later. For now, escape was his top priority. "Disengage," he said and he felt his gauntlets loosen around his hands. Leaning to one side and then the other, he pulled his hands out one at a time, becoming free of the arm restraints. That just left his feet and retrieving his gauntlets. Leaning forward and twisting his body to a side, he inspected arm restraints, finding a large keyhole on the outer side. It was rather thick-looking to his critical eye.
He stared at it for a moment before he reached back into the restraint, fiddling inside of his gauntlet before pulling out a large lock pick. Again, he leaned forward and turned, inserting the pick into the lock and began his search for the tumbler within. It took him a little longer than desired, but he eventually found it and disengaged it. Immediately, the restraints opened up and his gauntlet fell to the floor, making a clattering sound.
Turning to the other arm restraint, he made short work of it, unlocking it faster than the first one. He then set his sights on the leg restraints. He had to bend over at an uncomfortable angle, but he got them undone without much complication.
Taking a moment to retrieve his gauntlets and place them back on his arms—not to mention returning his lock pick back to its compartment in his glove—he then moved over to the table. Grabbing his cape, Batman swung it over his shoulder and attached it to his person. Next came his belt, checking many of the compartments first to make sure they hadn't been emptied first. The last thing he needed to do was assume they were still full when they weren't.
Finding his equipment was still in place, he then wrapped the belt around his hips and connected it, making an audible click as the clip entered the buckle and attached the two ends to each other.
This left him with one last thing: getting out of the cell and then this facility. Unfortunately, that's where he reached his first obstacle. The doors were completely smooth, indicating the only way out was to have access to the locking mechanism and control panel on the other side. That left him with the undesirable choice of waiting for someone to open the door for him.
It took awhile, but he was ready when the door slid open. One of the armored men he had seen at the warehouse strolled in, unarmed. His body language was one of alarm and surprise. So focused on the empty restraints was he that he never saw Batman coming.
His hiding place had been simple: he had hid in the corner out of sight of the door. With silent steps, he was right behind the guard. In the blink of an eye, Batman kicked out the man's feet eve as he pressed his hand against the back of the man's helmeted head. Using gravity as he kneeled down, he slammed the man face first against the floor.
Letting go of the back of the guard's head, the vigilante flipped him over and pulled off his helmet. A young man, possibly in his 30's looked at him in a daze. That faraway look in his eyes disappeared in an instant the moment he caught sight of the Dark Knight.
Batman jerked back as the guard threw a fist at him. The moment it reached its full extension, the dark-clad man grabbed the arm by the wrist and gave it a twist, which caused the man to cry out. Forcing the arm down and away from the guard's body, he then rammed his knee right into the forearm, pinning it down to the floor.
By then, the armored man had stopped his screaming and had reached for his belt. His hand pulled something out and he was bringing it to his mouth. Immediately, Batman caught him by his arm and forced it back, keeping it raised in the air. From what he could see, there was a green pill clutched between the man's fingers.
Slowly turning his head to the man, he stared at him with his blank white lens before demanding, "What is this?"
"I ain't tell you jack, dead man," the guard spat at him. "You better hope I don't take this pill, or it's all over for you."
Batman gave him a dispassionate look before he raised his free hand and slammed his fist into the man's hand. Immediately, he cried out, his fingers losing their grip on the pill and let it dropped to the floor, where it bounced away. Watching the pill come a stop, he then turned his attention back to the man. "You were saying?"
The man kept his defiant look. "Gloat all you want; the High Councilor is on his way and you're dead the moment he's here."
The guy had bravery, he'd give him that. Yet, this wasn't the first headstrong man he had interrogated; he knew how to handle these types. "Some of your friends mentioned enhancement pills when I was captured. I'm assuming that's one of those pills."
The man didn't respond.
"I'll take that as a yes." He then held his free hand above the guard's face, curling his fourth and fifth fingers into his palm as the other three were extended out. "I'm curious to see how effective those pills are when someone without eyes takes them."
That got the guard's attention. "W-without eyes?"
"That's right. It's not that hard to pluck an eyeball out of a man's skull if one knows what they're doing." It didn't need to be said that he indeed know how to. "You can take all of those pills you want, they won't do you any good if you can't hit me."
"I-i-if I had my helmet on, you wouldn't be able to do it!"
A thought struck Batman then. "You've been trained how to fight while on those pills. That's unfortunate for you. I've been trained to fight without them, so I know better than anyone the main soft areas of the human body. Your eyes are one; your throat is one." He then leaned closer to the man's face. "Your balls are one. You probably wear armor to make sure those areas are protected, you just never realized it."
"Y-you wouldn't…"
"Keep pressing your luck, friend, and I'll show you every...single...weak spot you have. You won't enjoy it and it will hurt you for the rest of your very short life. You have only one option to avoid this: tell me everything you know."
John led the way to the prison cells. There was a whole wing of the Hall of Justice designed with the most advanced technology to ensure their captives never escaped. Everything from Kryptonian to Thanagarian to Earthling to Kalanorian tech had gone into it.
Reaching the doors to the cell block, two guards stood at attention next to them. Upon seeing the Green Lantern flanked by Diana and Kal, they immediately saluted.
"We'd like to go see the prisoner," John informed them as they came to a stop in front of them. Immediately, the guard on the right turned to a computer panel hanging from the wall. "How long since the last inspection?" the Green Lantern asked of the other.
"A few minutes ago, Sir," came the answer. "It was just completed before you arrived."
The doors to the cell block then slid open. "Good job," John told them before leading the way through the doorway. A long hallway reached a good fifty yards away, allowing for eight separate cells to line the left and right sides each. "I put him in Cell #3," John said as he walked passed the first cell.
They passed the second one and soon arrived at the third cell on the left. There was another computer panel to the right side of the cell door and John calmly put in his passcode. A green light shined from the panel and the cell door slid to a side quietly.
The moment Diana stepped into the cell, a frown appeared on her face. The same one also wrote itself over Kal's. "Are you sure this is the right cell?" the Kryptonian questioned.
"Of course I am!" John exclaimed defensively. "I put him in here myself."
"Did you strip him too?"
Confined to the restraints on the wall was an unconscious man wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and boxers. His head hung low, though that did nothing to disguise the bruising on his face.
"No, I didn't. The only thing I had removed was his utility belt and cape," John answered him. "We placed those on the table…"
It was obvious why the Green Lantern trailed off. As Diana turned her head to look at the table, there was a clear absence of said belt and cape.
That was completely unacceptable.
"He escaped," Kal succinctly said, mirroring her own thoughts.
"That's impossible!" John exclaimed as he whipped around to face the dark-haired man. "We had these cells built with the best tech we could get our hands on! We even tested it on League members! Diana couldn't get out of here with all of her strength!"
Diana had to admit John was right about that. Each and every one of the Justice League had been locked in these cells to test their effectiveness. Her strength had managed to get her out of the restraints after much effort, but that had left her too exhausted to break through the cell door or the walls. John's ring couldn't cut through it either. Shazam had even used his magic and that had been rendered useless.
And yet, this Batman-imposter had gotten out.
Something wasn't right about this.
"I'll put the Hall on lockdown," John said as he left the cell. "We'll catch this bastard again."
Which left Diana and Kal in the cell. "How do you think he got out of the cell?" the Amazon couldn't help but ask, looking to her black-clad colleague.
"Obviously, brute strength wasn't used," Kal surmised, looking over the beaten man in the restraints. "There are no signs that he attempted to break the restraints, nor force the cell door opened. It's almost as if he waited…"
He trailed off as his eyes widened. Immediately, he whipped his head to Diana. "Hurry! Tell Lantern to search every single guard! Our imposture is disguised as one!"
It took Diana a moment to catch up with Kal's reasoning. How could their prisoner disguise himself as a guard? He would have had to wait for one to come to him since he hadn't tried to leave the cell. But how would he have done that? There was no reason for a guard to enter the cell.
Except...if the prisoner wasn't visible. Somehow this imposter had gotten out of his restraints, hid from sight, which caused the guard to open the cell. He was then ambushed, his uniform taken from him, then as a final insult was placed in the restraints. In fact, the two guards outside of the cell block had said they had just completed an inspection! That meant the man that had just left was their imposter!
Immediately, Diana was flying out of the cell and racing after John.
The sound of klaxon rang out, alerting anyone and everyone to an alert.
Formerly empty hallways were suddenly filled with armored men, rushing to their battle stations. Seeing as many of them were practically running, Batman saw no reason to not joined them, keeping pace with them until he had to break off at a hallway branching off.
It was a tight fit, but he had gotten his entire suit into his guard's. The helmet was a bit of a problem, but that had been solved by taking off his mask. It wasn't his preferred solution, but sacrifices had to be made.
Of course, that was when an intercom came on.
"PRISONER ESCAPE. PRISONER ESCAPE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. PRISONER ESCAPE."
Well, that was entirely helpful. So the guards would be looking for someone that didn't look like them. Perfect.
"PRISONER MAY BE DRESSED AS REGIME SOLDIER. ALL SOLDIERS TURN YOURSELF OVER FOR IDENTITY CHECK."
That complicated matters slightly.
There wasn't much for gear in this combat uniform. Aside from the armor, the belt had a couple of the green pills in it, along with a couple of taser rods and ammunition for a gun. Batman was currently gunless, so the ammo would be of no use at this time.
For now, he would use the information he had gotten out of the guard. He had detailed locations of the exits to this "Hall of Justice," not to mention security protocols. For instance, all of the exits would be on lockdown until an all clear was given.
Reaching the end of a hall, he caught sight of two guards running by, neither giving him the time of day. That was alright. Looking left and then right, he then took a right, heading down the corridor until he was forced to take a left.
It was here he came across one of the soldiers all by himself. He had stationed himself right in the middle of the hallway, facing the other way. Reaching to the belt, Batman pulled out the taser rod, turning it on as the far end glowed blue. Silently, he walked up to the man, going unnoticed until he grabbed him by the shoulder and then rammed the taser rod against the side of the helmet.
Immediately, the guard cried out as the electrical pulse shorted out the comm link in the helmet. Pulling the rod back, he then slammed its bottom against the back of the armored man's neck, knocking him out as he collapsed to the floor.
Without waiting, Batman pressed on, the hallway ending in a room. There was a guard station, where three guards were, none of whom looked to him. He noticed they were talking onto their comm links, keeping in contact with the other men.
More importantly, the exit to the building was here. It was sealed off by a large steel door, a gigantic lock keeping it shut right in the middle of the door.
Returning his attention to the guards, Batman hid his taser behind his back and ran up to the station. "Come quick!" he demanded as he ran into the desk, one hand catching him from fully plowing into it. "I found someone! They're down!"
Immediately, two of the guards left their post heading to the hallway. The third stayed where he was, opening a communication channel to alert the rest of the building to their fallen comrade. In an instant, Batman rammed his taser rod right where the comm link was located, shorting it out as the man screamed. Grabbing him by the back of his helmet, he then slammed him face first onto the computer panel and then pulled him away from it. Releasing his hold, he watched the man fall to the floor, lying there in a heap.
"Hey!" Spinning around, Batman saw the other two guards, who had stopped leaving and returned upon hearing their comrade's scream. Immediately, the vigilante threw the taser rod, one end nailing the guard on the left in the face. The impact stunned him, causing him to stumble back a step. That left his friend to scramble for his sidearm or taser, there was no telling which at this point.
Batman charged at the men, going into a slide to keep low. Coming to a stop in front and between them even as he coiled his legs underneath him so that he could get on his feet, Batman crossed a fist over his chest before swinging it back, bashing the bottom of his fist against the side of the rightmost guard's knee. The man cried out as his leg twisted into an unnatural position, stopping his hands fumbling at his belt.
This allowed Batman to shoot his hand up and pull the taser rod at of the guard's belt. Figuring the uniforms were uniform in nature, he was proven right as he pulled out the rod. Swinging it down, he kneecapped the other guard, causing him to drop to a knee as he shrieked. Rising up onto his feet, Batman struck at the right guard, hitting him against the side of his head with the taser rod, knocking his head to a side. He then crossed over again, repeating the same action to the left guard.
Lastly, he brought up one leg and lashed out with it, delivering a kick to the right guard's face and knocking him onto his backside. More importantly, he went limp the moment he touched the floor. That just left the left guard. Turning on the taser, he then forced the glowing end into the man's masked face and tasered him. Immediately, his body went stiff from tetanus, sparks shooting out from where the taser made contact.
And then he fell. Looking at the fallen men, Batman then returned to the guard station, seeing the first one still unconscious. Setting the taser rod on the desk as he sat himself at the first computer monitor, he accessed the program, using his prison guard's identification—another piece of intel he had interrogated out of him. Using it, he was able to bring up the current security protocol, seeing a layout of the building with its exits marked.
It would have been easy to just unlock the exit he was at, but that would just pinpoint his location. If he wanted a successful escape, he needed confusion. Fingers typing on the computer, he cancelled the current alert, authorizing the all clear. The intercom came on a moment later.
"WE HAVE AN ALL CLEAR. REOPENING ALL ENTRANCES AND EXITS. RETURN TO STATIONS."
The heavy lock on the steel door came undone then, an audible, deep CLICK being made. A diagonal line appeared from the top left corner to the bottom right, the steel doors sliding to the top right and bottom left corners.
Continuing to type in commands, Batman made sure to have every entrance and exit open its doors. It would take some time for the guards to realize that the reason for this was to open up as many escape points as possible while giving himself every opportunity to successfully leave. Some men would be deployed outside, but all on the wrong sides of the building.
However, if Green Lantern was on the premises, that could make leaving a bit more difficult. He could take to the air and commence the search from there. That meant he needed to get out and get out of sight as soon as possible.
As the doors opened, he left the station and darted through the doorway. He kept up his pace even as he looked to the skyline. The first thing he noticed was the futuristic look they had, nothing like the skyscrapers and brick-and-mortar he was familiar with. However, in spite of the look, there were no flying Jetson cars. In fact, it was just a architectural design that had taken over the city.
At least he knew what the guard had meant by Neo-Metropolis.
To the first Guest reviewer: Batman doesn't cheat Death; Death is too afraid to take him lol
To the second Guest reviewer: Thanks!