"No, no, I'm just curious about how you'll live up to that name. So far you're doing a good job, saving these kids and these amazingly weird circumstances we keep meeting each other."
Huh, that's a strange way of looking at it.
Then again, Superman was looking at it from the perspective of a cape name and those tended to carry some weight for the one holding it.
Batman was simple, he was a man dressed as a bat. As for why the bat had any significance, young Bruce felt fear at the sight of the animal and thus sought to inspire such fear into the hearts of criminals.
Superman was also simple, he was a lot of words that could be used to convey how above the average man he was, but kept it simple at 'super'. Not an Ultraman or an Omni-man like the less morally inclined alternatives that saw themselves as above the normal man. Rather, as someone that any normal man can become as they work for a better tomorrow.
In my case, I was just Amazo. The most meaning a person could assume to find is someone who amazes by doing amazing things. Or just a campy name to go along with some naming conventions.
And yet I was also A.M.A.Z.O., the Anti-Metahuman Adaptive Zoomatic Organism. Someone who could do amazing things only by doing what other amazing people do but better. True and a deceiver, real and a pretender. Tabula rasa, nunc ultimum et transcendens.
Much like ogres, names could carry layers depending on how you looked at them.
"Thanks, it means a lot coming from you. As for how I'll live up to it, I think that it'll be a surprise to be sure." I answered. To which Superman only chuckled goodheartedly, though I'm sure that would've sounded ominous to Batman and only make him suspicious. More than he already is anyway.
And with that, we left the classroom behind and made our way into the desert. The alarms of the facility were still ringing as we left.
Soon enough, Green Lantern flew out of the facility and joined up with us. It seems that he was the distraction causing such a fuss while Superman was getting the kids.
"You know, it was a pain to catch up with you when you go at those speeds. And the kids?"
"I'm just thankful it wasn't needed, Amazo got to them before anything more could happen."
"Amazo?" Lantern asked.
"That's the Android's name, got it from the little one," Superman explained while pointing at me with his thumb. Lantern looked at me in surprise, not expecting me to have such a name, or any at all.
"I better not hear anything about my cape name from a guy who named himself after his job, Mr. Space Cop."
"I'm the Green Lantern of this sector, so I think it's appropriate. Besides, you don't see any other Green Lanterns like you do other police officers and firefighters, do you?"
"No, not really." I mean, at the moment, no. But Kyle Rainer is also a human Lantern so there's technically two if he ever came back. And anything that requires more than one Green Lantern would be quite the issue.
Once we made it to the League's jet, we found Batman looking over some files in the pilot's seat while the Flash was organizing the physical files into categories. Both weren't too happy with what they were seeing, the Flash looking grim while Batman was frowning hard.
"I'm happy to report that the children are safe and sound. And I found our android friend, his name is Amazo." Superman announced as we walked on board.
Flash stopped organizing the files and ran over to us, though he did so without incurring the cliche of sending the papers flying. Batman set his papers done before walking over.
Batman took his eyes off Superman to look at the kids. His gaze softened as he looked at each of them, growing especially soft when on Ace, before they narrowed sharply when looking at me.
"Where did you get that trenchcoat? And why are you now wearing clothes?" he asked. Which confused me to be honest, I would've expected some harder questions from him. Then again, here and now with children isn't the best place for him to ask what he really wanted.
"Batman, I may be new to this wide and wacky world but I know enough that giant grey men aren't exactly normal. Plus I had to go get Ivo some food since he wasn't in much of a shape to do so himself, so he had a coat made for me for when I'm doing errands to keep discreet."
"Batman, as much as we'd like to play 20 Questions with Amazo, we do need to be on our way." Superman interrupted.
Batman stopped before nodding at Superman but made sure to give me a glare, as if to signal that he wasn't done with me. "You're right. Flash, escort the children to the back of the jet and get them fastened, we'll be taking off." he ordered as he walked back to the helm. Flash was happy enough to stop reading the files and led the kids to the back.
After a little bit to ensure that they were out of range, Lantern asked after getting in his own seat, "We have the Javelin stocked and ready for our passengers, but where would we take them?"
All of the League members blinked at that before their faces scrunched up in confusion. They didn't think about this beyond getting the kids out, didn't they? Even Batman was at a loss. I mean, no judgment on them for doing so since I did the same, but this is gonna be a bit of a pickle to handle.
"The Watchtower," Batman finally answered.
"Batman, it's hardly a place for children." Superman disagreed. And I couldn't argue with him, I doubt civilans or children were in mind when this place was built. But the Royal Flush Gang weren't just average folks.
"I know, but it would only be temporary until we found a proper place for them. One where they'll be out of reach from the government."
"Speaking of which, Batman, what did you find?" Superman inquired.
"I'll need to head back to the Watchtower in order to properly analyze the data. But from the physical files and research papers that Flash has gotten, which is everything that they had, it paints a disturbing picture. This facility is dedicated to the training and molding of these five for weapons of the government. And this isn't the only one they've done."
"You're telling me that there's more!?" Superman demanded aghast. Batman's eyes were sterner before he inclined his head towards the back, Superman noticed and calmed himself down with a breath.
"From what I've found, it's connected to something larger but other than a few references to other bases in a nearby area there's not much to find. At least until I get a look at the data files. But I did find what it's all connected to, Project Cadmus."
"And what's Cadmus supposed to be?"
"Cadmus is in the business of developing weapons against metahumans, specifically and recently, to fight against us."
"Us?" Green Lantern blinked in surprise, "We haven't done anything that would warrant such a thing."
"...no, most of us haven't. But I have. My actions caused harm to the Earth, even if it was under mind control." Superman said, his shame returning from the previous mention of his role in Darkseid's invasion.
"It isn't just because of you, it seems that this has been going on for a long time. As long as metahumans become a factor of power, the government is going to want to exert some control over it." Batman rebuked and reassured.
"I can understand that, but to think that they'd resort to such means…" Superman mulled before shaking it off, "Be that as it may, we'll have to come back to that later, and we most certainly will. We still have to take care of these kids and more recent issues."
"Back to speaking of the kids, how about the Batcave? You had a bunch of Robins in there didn't you?" I suggested. Well, I'd say Wayne Manor but I didn't want to freak Bruce out too much by dropping that. So the best I could do is to suggest Batman and let that potentially end up being Bruce Wayne.
"How do you know about the Batcave?" Batman asked. Huh, it seems that the fact that he had a Batcave wasn't public knowledge yet.
"Bats live in caves, and given your track record with names it seemed obvious," I explained.
"He does have a point you know," Lantern agreed, "Batarang, Batmobile, Bat-signal..."
"No, it won't be suitable. At the least, I would need to speak with a host I have in mind and some time to prepare rooms and accommodations for them and their abilities." Batman said, getting back to the topic and ignoring my and Lantern's valid comments. So he wasn't opposed, he just needed to set something up. Though that could either be a case of letting them live in Wayne Manor or a case of Teen Titans and Young Justice where he provides them a home out of some base. The kids are certainly old and mostly mature enough to watch themselves.
"You could just leave them with me for a little while." I proposed, my suggestion having caught them off guard, "My home was owned by a mad scientist so it'd likely be resistant to exotic things damaging it like powers. I just need some snack money and they'd be good to go until a better place is set up."
"Not so fast. We hardly know if you'd be the best candidate to watch over them, especially given the recent events that transpired there." Batman objected, citing some suspicions that he was keeping vague. It wouldn't do well to place the rescuer to traumatized children in a negative light right in front of them, just makes his job helping them harder.
"That's right! I still need to fix my front doors."
"That wasn't what I meant."
"Yeah, I know, I know. I just want them to have some place normal where they can relax for a little while." I explained. While I did agree that I wouldn't be the best of guardians long term, especially since I've got plans that need me to be mobile, I wouldn't mind watching them for a bit.
And speaking of events happening at my home, "So how did the investigation go anyway? By MCPD and by ace detective?" I asked with a raised brow. I didn't have a mouth to give a smug grin and I couldn't lean against anything so I settled for the brow.
"We decided not to involve the MCPD, considering what happened being beyond what they usually handle." Superman explained.
"However, I still conducted a thorough examination for any evidence." Batman added.
"And…" I asked ever so innocently.
Batman looked like he ate something sour, though only minutely as he admitted, "...The evidence matches with your story. While the lack of DNA would be concerning, Brainiac's tampering with Luthor's body renders such a thing very questionable and, at this point, moot."
"And how are you gonna explain the death?"
"We won't, truthfully that is. The fact that Brainiac had managed to control Luthor and act unnoticed or detected for years is unnerving to us already, it wouldn't go well with the world at large at all."
"Interesting to know, but I was referring to the stairs."
Batman closed his eyes before inhaling and letting out an exhale, as if he had trouble believing what he was about to say, "...We are not telling the people that Lex Luthor died from a fall down the stairs."
"But you confirmed it tho."
"Yes, but we would need to explain the lack of a body and I doubt that the chunks of man and metal he became would go along with that. Add the fact that we had to incinerate the remains gives even less room for it to be believed. Instead, we'll claim that his suit had malfunctioned, and along with his kryptonite cancer, became too irradiated to leave intact, forcing us to destroy the body." Batman explained. Then he added with what I could've sworn was tomfoolery, "Besides, I doubt that you'd appreciate the nationwide attention that your home would receive as the site of Luthor's death." And despite the rib, which I wasn't expecting, he was right. No, no I would have not.
Ivo was a recluse and that worked just fine for me, the second that his house got any attention meant that I would have to fend off journalists and government mooks swarming my property. Then I'd also have to fend off villains and government mooks trying to get their grubby hands on Ivo's, now my, stuff. I mean, sure, at this point governments and villains were laughable, but I'd like some time before I had to scare them off. That, and the average folks, civilain and government, would be annoying to deal with since violence was off the table, even if I could just shapeshift to solve some of those problems.
But all of that is nothing to get into a fuss about now, so I'll just be thankful that I missed the headline of a century in exchange for some peace. Still, there'll be consequences either way, "That's reasonable, and thank you. Though, with a powerful man like Luthor dying when his last reported sightings were in battle with you guys, people are going to be very curious and very interested. Be it the public, other villains, or government, or even those of the government within Cadmus."
"...what are you trying to imply about Cadmus?" Superman asked this time.
"Cadmus is a part of the government and I've seen enough ads of a certain interview to notice that Luthor was rather interested in playing politics and winning in first place. It wouldn't surprise me if he threw some money at powerful groups within the government to get their backing, and with a certain group looking into weaponizing and combating Metahumans…" I trailed off. While me suggesting this might get them suspicious of me, for coming to such a conclusion about a man who died at my home, it was for the better that the League is as aware of Cadmus as possible. And I doubt that Luthor would let his name be seen by anybody other than the top of Cadmus' hierarchy, just to gloat about them needing him.
"Then it'd be more than likely for Luthor to be one of their backers. And given our recent actions, they may see this as a threat or an attack on them." Batman concluded.
"It doesn't matter how they see it. We couldn't control what happened with Luthor and we wouldn't have allowed Cadmus to continue with their experiments on the children or any others they have." Superman said, even less happy now. The idea of Luthor having funded this while he was completely unaware and the fallout not sitting well with him.
"And with how they were preparing counters against us, it could even be possible that they might come after us anyway. At least we're aware of them now. And knowing is half the battle." Lantern said. Wait, did he just fucking quote G.I. Joe? Is that a thing here?
"As for how we became aware of them…" Batman trailed off before he turned right at me.
"How did you find this facility?" He demanded, probably one of the first things he wanted to say to me. Also the last thing he asked me before I hung up on him.
"I do believe that you said that my home was a crime scene, so I went out for a walk and figured that by the time I got back that you'd be done." I answered.
"How exactly did you end up walking from Delaware to Arizona? All the way across to the other side of the country? Such a trip would take a day or two of straight driving by car and a month on foot. Even if you could walk at the speed of a bicycle it'd still take you a week or so to get here." He asked, a bit incredulous at my answer. And the feeling was mutual since I was computer, I had no idea how Batman could calculate that amount of time so quickly. I'm just going to chalk it up as 'becuase he's Batman' and move on.
"I'm very enthusiastic about my walks, I'll have you know, gotta use these legs after all!" At his flat stare, I deflated a bit. Then I lifted my foot and briefly let a bit of rocket out, "You are aware that I could also fly, right? I went for a bit of a walk before deciding to make it a flight."
"And so you came across this facility. What made you look into this one out of the dozens of others? One would think that we'd be having this conversation over at Area 51, a rather famous tourist attraction."
Huh, in my haste to find Ace it hadn't occurred to me to look for Area 51 at all. Memories of 2019 and an Internet Historian video flooded my head for a moment.
While I'll never know if what it contained would be one-to-one back home with this being the DC universe, getting an idea of what could be in there is so going to be on my to do list. Might find me some mythical aliens or weapons of mass destruction to scan.
Hold on, an area where aliens and advanced tech are being held…
My eyes widened upon the realization. "Wouldn't that be a Cadmus base? Sure it'd be obvious, but you'd never know..."
Batman was silent for a moment as he considered this, "You wouldn't be wrong to assume. With the number of rumors and myths surrounding it, any one of them could be true. And it'll certainly be something that I'll look into but I'm not done with you yet, you still haven't answered my question."
Hmm, how honest do I want to be? I could argue that I wanted to visit the Arizona desert just because and happened to find this base. Oh wait, other tourist attractions in the desert.
"I wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Ivo mentioned it being one of his fondest travels, so I figured that I should give this a look."
Batman didn't seem too keen on that answer, but likely figured that this was all that I'd give him.
And would you look at that, we just landed in the Watchtower. Wow that flew by, didn't it? I didn't even get to notice that we were just in space.
And now we're in the Watchtower, headquaters of the Justice League. A marvel of engineering that managed to last 30,000 years after Vandal Savage messed up the solar system's gravity and humanity went extinct. At least that was before Batman would later crash on the Earth that is. Let's hope that we can stop that from happening again...
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First chapter of 2023!
Not much happened here besides discussing, and some grilling from Batman, but I find it kinda important since the League aren't going to ignore the ramifications of what they've found SO FAR. They still have the facility's digital files to look through plus some extra info Amazo will add on.
I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter, but I guess after the big events of the last one, things needed to unwind for a bit. Not much input from the kids since including them and the 4 League members here would be juggling too much, plus I think that the adults would like to discuss things out of their ears. As for where the others are (Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and WW), they were busy for 'reasons' but will be here next chapter. And I already wrote this 2-3k thing so I'll live with it. Still gonna do some edits and fixes since there's always some to be made.
Next chapter will have a mini timeskip to get the other League members up to speed on what was discussed so far. Then the whole League will see some of the facility's digital files + some extra info Amazo added on, then they'll debate on what to do about Cadmus. That, and settling the Royal Flush Gang somewhere safe. After all of that, they'll announce to the world of Luthor's demise. By the way, what you guys think about an interlude from Cadmus POV? Just asking because I think it'd be pretty interesting to see their reactions (they don't take things well lol)
I'm sorry about the wait, life happened, then my muse was being a pain when writing this. But I finally got to chapter 10! It's the furthest I've been in as an author so I'm happy to make it at this landmark.
Anyway, I hope that you guys liked this chapter and leave me your thoughts/critique/feedback on it.
