Chapter 2: Contingency Plans

Earth-16

The Justice League had defeated Steppenwolf, sending his decapitated head through an open portal, back to Darkseid's home planet. Also sending a warning to Darkseid, letting him know that the Justice League would be ready if he ever tried to attack again.

Bruce Wayne had an unexpected visit from Martian Manhunter at Bruce's lakeside house, which was built directly over the Bat-cave. Bruce was staying there because Wayne Manor was being renovated after it got destroyed. Martian Manhunter told Bruce that Darkseid would surely try to attack again. He also warned Bruce that some of the Justice League members may turn against him if they were being forced to do so. Bruce told Martian Manhunter that he would be ready if that time ever comes. Until then, he would continue preparing for whatever type of evil might try and crawl out of the woodwork next.

Five months later

New Year's Eve

The new Wayne Manor had been completed. However, it wasn't built so that Bruce could live in it, it was built to be the main headquarters for the members of the Justice League.

Bruce invited Clark, Diana, Victor, Barry, and Arthur to come check out the new headquarters. He also wanted to discuss a few other matters that he had on his mind.

2 PM…

There was a knock on the door…

A few seconds later, Bruce opened it up.

Outside stood the five of them.

Barry was shivering because he didn't like the cold, so as soon as the door opened, he sped past Bruce, causing Bruce's hair and coat to blow around from the sudden burst of wind Barry created.

Arthur had his usual tough guy stare going on, along with a couple more tattoos on his face and body.

Diana and Clark chuckled, seeing how Barry was still so rambunctious like a child, and eager to get inside.

Victor was sporting his usual gray hoodie, trying to conceal his face. The only thing truly visible was his glowing red eye.

Bruce stepped aside and welcomed them into the new headquarters.

Everyone was amazed at how much technology Bruce had installed. Holograms of satellite images were all over the large conference room. The images showed several locations all over the world that were some of the worst places on Earth to live. There were also several images of Gotham City being displayed. Bruce was constantly doing his homework. His goal in life was always to prevent other people from experiencing the trauma that he had to endure due to senseless violence.

"I see you've been busy. I was wondering why I hadn't heard from you for quite some time." Diana piped up.

"It's good to see you too, Diana." Bruce retorted.

"Man, look at all this cool stuff!" Barry blurted, zapping around the room, checking everything out.

"You've really outdone yourself, Bruce." Victor made mention. "I'm even sensing nanite technology in the room…am I right?"

"Yeah, I've been dabbling a little bit with the stuff here and there." Bruce responded. "Nowhere compared to your technological capabilities of course, but I try."

"You have your eyes and ears all over the world." Clark proclaimed. "Not even I could see this much all at once. You truly are the most powerful human on Earth."

"Thanks! Although, I still have to count on you to get there before me, but… give me time, I'm working on that too."

"How do you ever find time to be Bruce Wayne?" Diana asked.

"I don't." Bruce replied, politely pulling out a chair for her. "Please sit. All of you. We have a lot to discuss."

"Straight to work, huh?" Clark said, sitting down on a seat next to Diana.

Arthur pulled out a chair and was about to sit down, but Barry quickly dashed over, sitting in the chair first.

Arthur gave Barry an angry scowl.

"Oops! Was this going to be your seat?" Barry teased, quickly zapping over to the next chair available.

After the team sat down, Alfred brought in large glasses full of champagne and sat them down in front of each of them.

"Are you planning on getting us drunk?" Diana asked. "You will need more champagne than that. I have a high tolerance."

Bruce grabbed for the glass of champagne that was sitting in front of him. "I was hoping we could make a toast… to our victory this year… and to future victories."

All six of them raised their glasses in the air. "Cheers!" They all celebrated in unison.

"Bottom's up!" Arthur declared, quickly chugging his down and then afterwards slamming the flask down onto the table. "Okay. I sure hope that was just the appetizer. Bring out the good stuff!"

"If Diana needs more to drink, I could make a quick beer run." Barry playfully flirted.

Diana shook her head, laughing as she rolled her eyes back.

"Ahem…" Bruce cleared his throat, hoping to regain everyone's attention. "I would like to introduce you all to another member of the Justice League."

"Another member?" Barry asked, scratching his head.

Just then, Alfred's appearance suddenly began to shape-shift. After the transformation was complete, now in the room stood Martian Manhunter.

"Greetings." With a deep tone in his voice, the martian spoke up.

"Whoa! You have a martian Butler?" Barry said in amazement.

"This is Martian Manhunter." Bruce informed everyone.

"Please, call me J'onn." Martian Manhunter calmly spoke.

"Martian- I mean, J'onn… told me that Darkseid will soon try and attack our planet once again. What happens if he figures out our weaknesses?" Bruce asked.

"Weaknesses?" Arthur blurted. "We have no weaknesses! If he tries to attack again, we will squash him like a bug, just like we did to his shiny General and his buzzing parademons!" He declared, looking around the room for another glass of champagne. "Why is it so damn stuffy in here? You seriously need to look into getting a humidifier up in this joint." He proclaimed, splashing himself in the face with a cup of water that was sitting next to his empty flask.

Within a couple seconds, Diana's eyes suddenly went into a cold blank stare, almost as if she was in a trance.

"Hey guys. What's wrong with Diana?" Barry asked.

Clark waved his hand in front of Diana's face. He even snapped his fingers a few times. "Diana? Hello." There was no response.

"Bruce, somethings wrong!"

Suddenly, a bright red light shined down from the ceiling.

"What's up with the lights, Bruce?" Barry asked. "And burr, why is it getting so cold in here?" He tried covering his chest with his arms.

Arthur began coughing. His mouth and throat felt severely dry, almost as if he hadn't had water for days.

Clark tried standing up to go help him, but as soon as he got out of his chair, he fell over, too weak to move.

Barry wanted to rush over to help, but when he looked down, he realized he was frozen to his chair.

"What is happening to them?" Victor bellowed. Then, he looked down at his glass. "What did you put in our drinks?"

"Just a contingency plan for just in case one of you ever decides to go rogue." Bruce replied.

Victor stood up, and then tried approaching Bruce. Suddenly, a bright light flashed across the room, caused by an EMP, completely shutting down Victor's cyborg body, now becoming dead weight.

"Bruce! Stop! You are killing them!" J'onn pleaded, trying to take a step towards Bruce himself, but when he did, his skin began to burn, almost as if he was standing next to a raging fire.

"I wouldn't move if I was you. The Mercury only activates when you use your reflexive muscles." Bruce warned him.

Barry began vibrating in his chair. "This ice can only hold me for so long!" He declared, finally breaking free from his restraints and making a mad dash towards Bruce, but when he did, he fell to the floor and began to seizure.

"The nanites are traveling through your body. Every time you try to use your speed-force, you will activate the nanites, causing you to seize up."

"What have you done to Diana?" J'onn asked.

"She is in a trance." Bruce replied. "At this time, she is in a fight for her life, dreaming that she is fighting against herself. And what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

"You must wake her up!" J'onn demanded, feeling a burning pain in his throat after harshly using his vocal chords.

"Don't worry. It's only temporary." Bruce proclaimed. "I wanted to show all of you that I had a contingency plan in place just in case one of you got out of line… Just in case one of you was forced to do something you didn't want to do."

Then, Bruce pushed a button on a small remote control, causing the terrible effects to stop happening to the others.

Instantly, Clark sped over to Bruce, grabbed him by his collar, picking him up off the ground, and then slamming him against the wall. "Contingency plan!" Clark snarled. "I could rip your heart out of your chest right now! How is that for a contingency plan!?" He exclaimed, squeezing Bruce's throat tightly.

"I… I…" Bruce tried to respond, but his voice box was being crushed.

Diana quickly made it over to Clark and put her hand on his shoulder. "Please stop." She pleaded, "It's not worth it." Her gentle touch caused Clark to release his death-grip. "I expected better of you, Bruce. I'm very disappointed."

Arthur got his wits back about him. "I don't want to be a part of your STUPID team anymore!" He declared, ramming his shoulder into Bruce as he exited through the main doors.

"I had to show you what could happen if Darkseid discovers your weaknesses. You would have done the same thing… eventually."

"Send me a text next time!" Victor blurted, following Arthur out the door.

Barry got up from off the ground. "That was a real CRAPPY thing to do, Bruce." He scolded, vanishing in a bolt of lightning.

Soon, Clark and Diana followed the others, leaving only J'onn and Bruce in the room.

"I understand why you did this." J'onn said. "But it wasn't necessary. We are supposed to be a team, and now you have alienated yourself from the others. That's not being a very good team player." He also scolded, finally walking out himself.

The real Alfred walked into the room. "Where is everyone going? I made us a late lunch. I'm guessing the meeting didn't go according to plan, huh Master Bruce?"

"No, Alfred, it went EXACTLY as planned." Bruce retorted.

"If you say so, Master Bruce."

Bruce walked out of the room. "I need to go into town for a while, Alfred. I have a little shopping to do."

"Bruce Wayne goes shopping? I thought that's what I was for. You must be in the spirit of trying a New Year's resolution." Alfred declared.

"You aren't my butler anymore, Alfred." Bruce replied, continuing to head towards his car.

"Then, what am I?"

Bruce turned to look at Alfred. "My assistant!"

"Oh, good." Alfred loosen his bow-tie. "For a second there I thought I was out of a job."

Alfred then quickly caught up to Bruce. "Can I at least drive you into town, sir?"

"Sure, Alfred." Bruce replied, tossing Alfred his car keys. "I'm still a little tipsy from the champagne anyways."

…While they were heading into town… Bruce started checking his rearview mirror.

"Something wrong, sir?" Alfred asked.

"No, Alfred. I thought I noticed something in the rearview mirror, but it must be nothing."

"Perhaps that champagne WAS a little bit too strong." Alfred teased.

3:30 PM…

Alfred pulled the car up to the entrance at Gotham Mall. Bruce hopped out of the car and began making his way inside.

As Alfred went to park the car, he noticed that Bruce had accidentally forgotten his wallet. He quickly parked the car and then ran in to try and catch up to Bruce.

Upon entering, Alfred saw something strange. It appeared to be the distorted reflection from the scope of a sniper gun. He then looked down the hall and spotted Bruce. Alfred quickly put two and two together and realized that someone had a rifle pointed directly at Bruce.

"Bruce! LOOK OUT!"

The very moment Bruce heard Alfred yell out to him, he too got a glimpse of the gleaming reflection coming from the scope of the rifle.

BANG! A shot rang out, causing all the mall shoppers to scatter in different directions, trying to take cover.

Bruce dodged out of the way just in time. He then quickly ducked behind a stone column. Bruce knew the exact angle that the bullet was fired from and he also knew exactly where to hide. In fact, Bruce knew the layout of every building that he had ever been in because of his photographic memory.

The rifle quickly turned and pointed at Alfred, who was a sitting duck, standing in the middle of the mall lobby.

BANG! Another shot rang out.

Bruce saw Alfred fall down after what looked like he might have been shot in the upper chest and shoulder area. He knew he would have to provide him with cover, so he reached into his belt and pulled out a pellet and then threw it at the ground near Alfred. When the pellet hit the ground, the entire area began filling up with a thick smoke. Although Bruce wasn't wearing his exact Batman outfit, he always had a few hidden gadgets on him no matter what he was wearing.

Bruce checked in the reflection of the store's glass window to try and spot where the assassin was hiding out at. The gunner had the high ground, but Bruce needed to get over to Alfred so that he could try and help him, or at least make sure he wasn't dead.

"COME OUT OF YOUR HIDING SPOT, BRUCE, OR YOUR BUTLER GETS A BULLET RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES!

Knowing the shooter wouldn't miss him again, Bruce decided to use a different approach. "WHAT'S THE MATTER… SLADE!? ARE YOU AFRAID TO COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WOULD NEVER ASK!" Deathstroke announced, jumping down from off the second floor, landing next to Alfred. "Now, come out!" He yelled, throwing his rifle down, preparing himself for an equal fight.

"RRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" Bruce let out a battle cry as he came out of nowhere, punching Deathstroke with a lunging Superman punch.

Deathstroke managed to roll with the punch just enough to fall backwards, tumbling into a lower defensive stance. He then quickly pulled out his bo-staff from behind his back and swung it at Bruce's legs, hoping to sweep him out from under his feet.

Bruce jumped into the air, landing on a table, dodging Deathstroke's efforts.

Deathstroke swung the pole at Bruce again, but Bruce dodged it once more by somersaulting from off the table, while in the same motion, grabbing a chair, coming down and smashing it over Deathstroke's head.

Deathstroke fell to his knees.

Bruce took this opportunity to kick the bo-staff out of his hands, causing it to fly off several feet away.

Deathstroke grabbed hold of Bruce's leg just after Bruce had kicked away his weapon, and in one hard tug, he finally managed to trip him up, bringing Bruce to the ground, landing flat on his back.

WHAM! WHAM! Deathstroke used his advantage to punch Bruce in the face a couple times, but Bruce managed to throw his elbows up in defense, not allowing the punches to land with much force.

Bruce quickly reversed their positions by grabbing hold of Deathstroke and flipping him over onto his back.

Bruce managed to get a couple punches in of his own, but Deathstroke used Bruce's strategy of blocking the blows with his elbows, proving to Bruce that he too was a skilled fighter.

Bruce tried subduing him by putting him in a choke hold.

Deathstroke tried squirming out of his grasp.

Bruce gripped tighter. "Listen to me, Slade!" He demanded. "I don't know how you found out about me and I don't care! You need to know that there are things going on out there that are much bigger than mine and your rivalry! It involves the ENTIRE planet!"

Deathstroke finally managed to break Bruce's hold. "Do you know how much money I could have made if you hadn't interfered with so many of my contracts over the years?" Deathstroke blurted, pulling out a sword, and pointing it at Bruce. "Now I find out that you are a spoiled billionaire who never had to worry about money! After I kill you, I will no longer have to worry about your meddling in my affairs ever again!"

Then, Deathstroke swung his sword, trying to cut Bruce in half like a melon, but Bruce grabbed hold of a table and used it as a shield to cover most of his face and body.

Deathstroke then began stabbing into the table, hoping to pierce Bruce's heart. One of his attempts did manage to cut Bruce on his arm. After seeing Bruce's blood on the end of his sword, he knew the exact trajectory in which he would need to insert his blade.

"Slade, listen! If it's money you want, then I have plenty of it! You can work for me! I will pay you more money than you've ever made in your life!"

Deathstroke wasn't having any of it, thrusting his sword into the table.

Bruce knew exactly where Deathstroke was aiming his sword, and when the blade came through, Bruce managed to trap the sword between his arm and chest, not allowing Deathstroke the ability to pull it back out.

And then, in one quick motion, Bruce flipped the table completely over, landing it on top of Deathstroke, the blade now pointing directly at Deathstroke's chest. Bruce pushed the sword even closer, actually puncturing Deathstroke's skin.

"Is this what you want!?" Bruce yelled, keeping his weight on the sword. "You want to fight to the death… even after I offered you more money than you could ever dream of?"

Deathstroke gritted his teeth and began pushing back on the table as forcefully as he could. "I don't want your damn money! I want revenge for you killing my son!"

Bruce was instantly taken back by this new revelation. "What are you talking about!?"

Deathstroke continued exerting all his energy until he was finally spent.

(Pant) (Pant). Deathstroke took a heavy breath. "Kill me! It is the only way for you to truly be rid of my wrath!"

"What did you mean when you said I killed your son!? When!?… Where!?" Bruce demanded to know.

"Sigh." Deathstroke was disappointed. "You know what happened!" He declared, pissed because he thought Bruce was toying with him. "It was in Cabo. My son was running an operation there. You intervened LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!"

"WHEN!?" Bruce continued to interrogate.

"Two years ago! I saw you leaving his hideout! When I went in to check on him… HE WAS DEAD!"

Bruce loosen his grip on the sword just slightly. "I wasn't in Cabo two years ago!"

"LIAR!" Deathstroke declared, realizing Bruce had let up a little, all while starting to get his second wind.

Deathstroke took that opportunity to kick one of Bruce's legs out from under him, while at the same time, sliding out from under the table. He then pulled a pistol out from his side holster and pointed it directly at Bruce's head.

"You shouldn't have shown me mercy, Bruce!"

"I wasn't in Cabo two years ago! I can prove it! Just check the obituaries for Jason Todd!" Bruce bellowed.

In that moment, Deathstroke realized that Bruce might actually be telling the truth. Plus, he did show him mercy, so why wouldn't he have shown mercy on his son? It didn't make sense. Bruce didn't seem like the type of vigilante that would kill someone in cold blood. Not to mention, he also knew how his parents died.

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Deathstroke asked. "Who else goes around the world dressed up as a bat just because he has the money to do so?"

"I don't know, but I am willing to help you figure it out. But first, you have to listen to me. There is something huge that is going to happen in the near future, and we are going to need to work together, side by side, if we are going to survive… AS A PLANET!"

Deathstroke was eager, his finger was pressed as tightly on the trigger as it could've been without actually allowing it to fire, and he had Bruce dead to rights. But, then his grip loosened, the same way Bruce's did earlier, and he returned his pistol to his holster.

"So… You said I could make more money than I could have ever dreamed of?" Deathstroke calmly asked, showing he was now an ally.

"Sure… But first we need to get Alfred to the hospital."

11 PM…

After spending almost seven hours in the waiting room, Bruce was finally told by a doctor that Alfred was still in critical condition, but stable. The doctor then told Bruce that maybe he should also check himself into the hospital, noticing Bruce looked like he had been a little roughed up himself. Bruce instead decided to go back to his lake cottage.

11:45 PM…

Bruce made it home and kicked off his shoes. The doctor was right when he said Bruce had been a little roughed up. He pulled back his sleeve and looked at the cut wound on his arm and then he lifted up his shirt, groaning, staring down at the bruises on his ribs. He slugged along, making his way to his bed, which overlooked the lake. Suddenly, just as he flopped down in it, still fully dressed.-

CRASH! The glass windows that overlooked the lake shattered, flying in all directions.

Bruce had to cover his face as the shards of glass flew past him, sticking into the headboard.

"Bruce Wayne!" A voice yelled out. "Or should I say- BATMAN!?"

When Bruce lowered his arm away from his covered eyes, he saw a man hovering over him, somehow levitating in mid-air. He was wearing a green and purple mechanical suit with a helmet that obscured his identity.

"Do I know you!?" Bruce played it off as if he wasn't even bothered by the sudden entry.

The man lowered his face-shield. "I'm the man who is going to finally kill you!" Lex Luthor declared.

"And then what? Even if you kill me, you'll never be able to kill us all! You are out of your league!" Bruce exclaimed.

"Oh! Do you mean… YOU'RE JUSTICE LEAGUE!?" Luthor inquired. "You really need to do a better job of securing your computer software. I found your contingency plan for your precious warriors!"

Bruce's eyes widened, fearing Luthor might have used his contingency plan against them already.

And then his fear came into fruition. "I have them trapped, and they are going to die in less than ten minutes. Not only that, I have also found a way to not only drain Superman of his energy, but also absorb that same energy into this suit!... MAKING ME A GOD!"

Bruce leaned back, acting as if he wasn't worried, putting his hands behind his head. "Well… In that case.-" Bruce then pushed a button under his pillow, allowing several arrows to come flying from out of the wall behind him, hitting Luthor in the chest. However, the arrows didn't even penetrate the suit, bouncing off of him as if he actually was Superman himself.

"HA HA HA!" Luthor laughed. "Now it's my turn!"

Just as Luthor was about to fire a weapon at Bruce-

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Canon blasts from the Bat-wing hit Luthor directly in the back, causing him to get blasted through the other wall.

Bruce then jumped out of bed, and despite the fact that he was barefoot, he ran across the broken glass and leapt out the window, grabbing hold of a rope which was hanging down from the Bat-wing. After holding on as tight as possible, he used a remote control to try and fly the plane away. The plane managed to make it about six hundred yards, when suddenly-

SMASH! The plane was knocked out of the sky by Luthor, causing it to crash down close to the new Justice League headquarters.

Bruce perfectly rolled on the ground as he landed. He then got up and tried making his way towards the headquarters, hoping to find cover.

Luthor quickly came in for an approach. Bruce threw three smoke bombs in the air, hoping to cloud Luthor's vision, but it didn't faze Luthor because his suit had absorbed Superman's powers and he could see right through it with his visors.

Luthor came flying out of the smoke, heading directly for Bruce. Just before Luthor could attack, Bruce shot out a couple more smoke bombs, except for this time, they were kryptonite bombs, causing Luthor to lose control of his suit for a moment.

Bruce used that moment to bust through the front doors of the new headquarters.

Just as he made it inside-

SMASH! Luthor flew into the headquarters directly through the roof, crashing down through the ceiling, causing large bits of brick and mortar to fall to the ground.

11:59 PM…

Bruce ran off and hid near the corner of the meeting room.

"I can see you, BRUCE! I have Superman's powers, remember?" Luthor declared. "Cornered like a mouse at the end of his maze! Although, I don't think I'm going to kill you just yet. I will wait until the stroke of midnight, because I want you to know the exact moment your Justice League will DIE! As soon as that ball drops, so do your Super-Friends! Plus, I have an added surprise for everyone who might be celebrating in Gotham Square tonight!"

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1…

Suddenly, just before the clock counted down to midnight, all of the lights went out. Not only did all of the lights go out inside the headquarters, but also the lights went out in the entire metropolitan area of Gotham City, cutting off all the electricity with an EMP blast, immediately stopping the countdown.

Just then, a generator could be heard kicking on with its backup power supply. When the lights came back on, they were bright red, the same red light that weakened Superman.

Lex Luthor felt the energy being drained from out of the suit, causing him to come crashing down to the ground, the suit now useless.

Luthor laid on his back like a turtle trapped in its shell. "This can't be! My plan was perfect!"

Bruce walked out from the dark corner he had been standing in. "You see, Lex, this is exactly why I didn't hide the information about the other league member's weaknesses. I wanted you to think that I was completely isolated from them, so that I could get you here at this exact moment... With no Justice League to stop me!" He declared, walking up to Luthor, standing directly over him. "I don't need the Justice League! But you are going to wish they were here FOR YOU after you feel the pain I am about to inflict on you!"

Bruce began slamming his fists into Luthor's visor until it finally shattered, causing glass to fall into Luthor's eyes. "It doesn't feel good does it!?" Bruce scorned.

Luthor turned his head away, gritting his teeth, preparing for the beat down of his life.

Bruce raised his fist in the air. "I didn't see you in my visions of the future! That must mean I'm allowed to kill you now!"

Just before Bruce could strike him, a voice came out of nowhere. "Bruce! Stop!"

Bruce looked around, but nobody else was in the room besides him and Lex.

"If you kill him, your world will be destroyed!" The voice warned.

After looking around once again, Bruce realized that the voice was actually coming from inside his head.

Lex began squirming around. "What are you waiting for… KILL ME!"

"The Justice League are on their way, Bruce. Let them deal with him." The voice in his head continued. "My name is Dr. Fate. I need you to come with me right now!"

"WHY!?" Bruce snarled, demanding to know, still clenching his fist, ready to pummel Luthor.

Luthor thought he was talking to him. "Why? Because I know your name! The entire world will know! Plus, you know I will be released soon enough, I have Bruce Wayne kind of money, remember? I can buy anyone I want. And if not, I could always pay someone to kill them."

Bruce's face grew a mean scorn. His eyes were filled with rage.

"Bruce! I need you to come with me now! It's about the future! Not only the future for YOUR planet, but the future of the universe… SEVERAL MULTIVERSES to be more precise!" The voice warned. "You are the key to life in every universe. Your decision now could only worsen the outcome. I have already lost two planet Earths to the Dark Multiverse, I don't want to lose another one!"

Bruce looked down at Luthor. "You see, Luthor, no matter how much money you throw at something, you will always be a small-time crook. Go ahead and tell everyone my name, I don't give a DAMN! They can take all my money and I would still have all I need in life to defeat you! While you are busy trying to take over this planet, I will be busy saving a Multiverse!"

Bruce stood up, knowing the Justice League would be there shortly, and walked out the door.

Lex Luthor turned his head to see where Bruce was going. The only thing he caught a glimpse of was a bright light, whisking Bruce away.