Public Enemy
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(General P.O.V)
The room was dim with mood lighting. A grim atmosphere that exuded a certain level of relaxation. Especially when the late evening city lights could be seen through the transparent windows.
"Ultra humanite, Count Vertigo and Black Adam. The former 2 dead and the last one missing."
Lex pointed out, throwing a folder containing the forensics report on the table.
"Mid level associates with a small degree of importance to our cause. I foresee our operations in Kahndaq and Vlatava suffering a hit and stalling for some time."
Ra's observed, flipping through the folder with mild interest.
"This boy…he is brutal." The hint of a smile appeared on his face. "Perfect for my shadows."
Lex nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. Taking out Count Vertigo and leaving Ultra humanite braindead is not something that exceptional but…the fact that he managed to make Adam go missing, that even Psimon's ability enhanced by magic couldn't locate him…spells on the versatility and skill he has been likely hiding from the heroes."
Luthor concluded, loosening his tie a little.
"He just keeps getting more and more intriguing."
The bald genius held up his glass to the side, prompting Mercy to fill his glass up till it was halfway full and drop two icecubes. Ra's shook his head a little when Mercy offered him a drink.
"What do you want Luthor?" The demons head narrowed his eyes. Not really in the mood to play guessing games with the billionaire.
"Your proposal, I believe in its merit. A way to monitor the boy's activities. The problem up until now has been a way to pin him down." Luthor begun.
Ra's leaned in, interested.
"Forgive me but not even your shadows have the ability to find out his whereabouts or track him. And if your shadows failed…then it wouldn't be a lie to say that no one else can."
Ra's took the insult of his men's inadequacy professionally, knowing that Luthor wasn't lying. Even Cheshire who was on scene and had great tracking skills had said the trail had gone cold at one point, likely due to boom tube use. Which had prompted the shadows to use boom tube tracking tech sourced out from Apokalips before the relationship between them and the Light had grown tense. That had turned up nothing still.
"That is true. Loathe as I am to admit it. It is a failure on my part and my agents are being disciplined as we speak."
The centuries old man said. He might have taken the criticism from Luthor professionally but that didn't mean he wasn't going to punish the shadows for failing such an important task.
"And that in itself made me think. How do you keep track of someone that shows up when and where they want?"
Luthor took a sip as Ra's mulled over the question.
A glint appeared in the eyes of the leader of the league of assassins.
"Simple…you can't control them but you can control their surroundings, their environment. You turn it into your eyes and ears. You make it so, anywhere they appear they cannot hide or blend in. And then you can act accordingly."
A smile appeared on Luthor's face.
"Precisely."
He then turned to the table, grabbed a remote and switched on the TV mounted on the wall to their side.
The GBS logo appeared before the image switched to an anchor seating in a news room.
"Shocking new developments have been made known to the public, as the authorities continue their investigation on what has been coined as the 'Injustice League Incident' that saw the attack of multiple cities across the united states. The death toll rests at 32 confirmed casualties and over 300 injured people before the League's timely intervention saved the day. Through all that, the lack of an attack on Metropolis and Superman's missing status left many questions ringing through everyone's minds, especially when the attacks seemed to happen in cities with a League member or independent heroes presence. Which suggested a pattern. The reason for that was more nefarious than anyone could imagine. I urge everyone to please proceed with caution as the images we are about to show you are very graphic."
The next image showed a black clad figure standing above Superman's broken body. The figure was dressed in a huge trench coat, a visor on his head and a katana gripped in his hands. Blood from Superman's body died the rock he was lying on red. The anchors face was grim.
"The attacks were a diversion meant to keep the other heroes too busy to help Superman as he faced down this menacing figure that the police have dubbed, Cape killer. His identity has similarly been released to ensure everyone is aware of who they are and what they are capable of. The Cape Killer's real name is Aden Strong."
Lex pressed the remote and the screen switched off.
"You changed the camera feed."
Ra's Al Ghul stated more as a confirmation than a question.
"And I am guessing paid off the news crew or maybe used Psimon to change their memory of the events. All for you to pull of this scheme. I am impressed Luthor. Really. However, how will you account for when the League reveals a contradictory statement?"
The Demons Head sharp intuition showed him enough scenarios to poke holes in Luthor's plan.
The other man however seemed to have expected the question.
"The plan wasn't to turn the world against the boy. It was to reveal him to the world. If we can't pin him down, then we'll make sure that everywhere he goes people know him, fear him, love him, abhor him or reject him…it's all the same. They will be our eyes and ears as well as the driving force to bring him to us. For he will face none of the wariness the League and everyone else will treat him with…We will give him a true purpose. A sense of belonging."
"Ambitious. But it can backfire tremendously Luthor. People hang onto the League's every word. The opposition they face is minimal when compared to how much support they get. They are an umbrella and you don't stab holes in your umbrella lest you get soaked."
Al Ghul stated while rubbing his chin.
"Even if the plan should fail, the doubt that will bloom on the veracity of the League's statements as opposed to what they see will be enough to start a spark. That juxtaposition will be the first step towards evolving from questioning their actions and motives to questioning their presence. It will only snowball from there."
"You have clearly thought about this deeply. Alright, I do not know what it is you seek from me but I am on board."
Ra's told him.
Luthor's smile went feral.
"Nothing much. Just consider it a countermeasure incase Project Rebirth goes horribly wrong."
The Demon's head raised his eyebrows.
"I see. That answers the question I had about why you felt the need to hide this information from the others. They want the boy serving his purpose or dead. You on the other hand want to use him for another agenda. Pray do tell what you know that we don't, Luthor."
Luthor trailed his finger on the rim of the glass absentmindedly.
"I am a business man Ra's. And as a business man, we know when to take risks. One might perceive my actions as a bold and stupid move but as a business man and a talented one at that…my vision goes farther than what everyone else can see. It's a skill you cultivate off the backs of so many failures and successes. Aden Strong is an investment worth my attention and risk. That's merely all there is to it."
He replied with a shrug.
(Aden's P.O.V)
"Because the world needs Superman. And because I could."
My reply seemed to surprise him a little which made me roll my eyes.
"Yes, Batman. I have a conscious too. I can care about these things and still oppose your ideals. Just because I think extreme measures should be taken when dealing with Villains doesn't mean I want to see the end of the Justice League."
I told him as plainly as I could.
"Tell me everything you know about the mercenary you said attacked Superman."
He grunted, pressing a key on his holographic computer to project a few unclear images that showed Lobo on his space bike flying away, while I stood below him next to Superman.
"And why left without finishing the job."
"Well, I don't really know much about Lobo..."
I started only for him to cut me off.
"You mentioned his name in the meta-knowledge report you gave us once. I compared it with the images I managed to acquire to almost a 100 percent compatibility. The sparse information we have states he is the last of the Czarnians, a galactic mercenary, bounty hunter and very powerful. What could such a person want with Superman?"
"Meta knowledge?"
Iroh questioned from the side.
"I will explain later." I answered him before turning to Batman.
"Other than the obvious? Superman is the last known Kryptonian survivor. I can think of a few beings who would want to add him to their collection or experiment on him. But no, this stinks of a scheme by the Light. I had the pleasure of working with Jason Blood to take down the ones responsible for the creation of the vine Monsters in the first place, you're welcome by the way, and one of them had something interesting to say."
So I told Batman everything I'd gotten from Ultra-humanite.
"They've grown bold in their actions. I need to talk to the Justice League and prepare an appropriate pushback after assesing the damage. We can't suffer another attack like this while they try to take one of us out. Not to mention... Superman's family might be worried about him. Can you create a portal straight into the Watchtower?"
He wondered making me shake my head.
"That's not a good idea. With you no longer being a member and me being a...free thinker which means fugitive to you guys, the Tower's new security system which I'm sure the League most likely implemented to deal with me...might shoot first and ask questions later."
"You're right." He nodded. "Then a portal to Metropolis will do."
I stood up and rubbed my hands.
"Ok then, let's do this. Let's get Superman home."