4 Chapter 4: Aftermath

Good day my royal subjects! Tis I, your king and ruler! Geo! Here with another chapter!

As promised, I have a chapter lined up with all of your names on it.

Except... I lied about the word count.

I promised you a 6.5k word chapter, and now it's somehow become around 7k+ when edited for my patrons! So, even though not much, you get some more.

Be grateful peasants!

But seriously though, before you get to the chapter, I wanted to say a few things real quick.

I started this out as a hobby and to make cash on the side, even if only a little.

Let me tell you, I was shocked at the support I received in just this week alone, I'm not even kidding.

You guys know how to make an author feel special! I have no idea if it's normal to get as many views, collections, comments, power stones, and everything else in just this week alone.

But I love it nonetheless. I enjoy reading your comments and reviews, and just responding to them when I get the chance.

You guys have been incredibly helpful and understanding and I can't thank you enough for it. I reread some of the stuff I posted and noticed some typos or errors I tried hard to get rid off, but I'm on my own for all of this even with the websites I use to fix up the bigger errors and whatnot. So, I thank you for not calling me out on those mistakes as even if I went to fix them, I would have to delete the chapter which would erase all your wonderful comments as well.

In fact, some of you even gave me some ideas I was already planning on adding into the story, or just plain better ones, with those comments, and I can't bear to part with them.

You have no idea how much this motivates me.

There were also a few comments that questioned me about the story's direction, and I'll take the time to answer them with another note at the end of the chapter if you're interested.

But first, I wanted to take a moment to mention something important about this story that you must keep in mind as you continue reading.

Some people mistook the MC as being emotionless or a machine.

I'm telling you now that my MC is NOT that kind of person.

If I wanted an emotionless MC, I wouldn't have used the ES as his origin of power.

No, his emotions are just dulled or not present sometimes, and the reasons will be clear as the story continues, and subject to change.

Then came some comments on the powers he will be given.

Let me say this now, in universes like DC, not a single person is weak. Even a regular man can take down a God, and that's the one of the most important reason I picked the Batman as his dad.

Man fights above his weight class like every Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

And if it isn't obvious enough to true DC fans, no son of Bruce Wayne is weak.

Damian Wayne is probably looking down in disdain at you disbelievers right now.

I gave my character a fighting chance.

Although he won't win very fight, it's not because he's weak or not strong enough.

There's more to a story or battle than differing powers, and I hope you guys understand that based on the messages and events I try to deliver to you.

Finally, there's the last type of support I have to go into depth about.

Once again, I have no idea if it's normal, but some of you guys went above and beyond in your actions and I can't be anymore grateful.

In just a week, I've gained 12 Patrons! Thanks so much to all of you!

There's only so much I can offer you, but a shoutout is definitely one! (Since I now know that's a real thing.)

So, a quick thank you to @Austin, @Zaqsxw694, @Matthew Alexander, @Joseph, @Liam, @Sam, @Smitty, @IgnisPrimus, @Relken, @Shadi, @Majest, @Ali, and @Max!

You guys are awesome and have my utmost appreciation in your support and insightful comments or ideas.

That's pretty much it for now. I won't take up any more of your time if you stuck to reading this since I know the wait must've been crippling for some of you. Again, if you're interested I'll be answering a few things at the bottom of the chapter.

As previously mentioned, this chapter is more focused on the Justice League than our MC.

Enjoy!

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Date: May 24, 2006

Location: Washington, D.C., Hall of Justice

Time: 3:42 P.M.

Flash was not having a good week.

Which says a lot, since he usually considered himself a positive and upbeat person who usually goes with the flow.

And when you can move at speeds faster than any piloted vehicle in the world, then the world flows slow enough for you to catch up.

But not this time.

After that whole fiasco last week where Joker invaded Mount Justice, where some of them almost died until Wildcard saved them, Batman immediately began an investigation into what happened, trying to determine how he found out.

He also got to work with Aquaman and him, after the former had managed to wake up, into putting out the fire and seeing if anything in the Mountain was still salvageable.

Zeta Tubes are expensive, and unfortunately, the couple they had in there were deemed impossible to repair.

Without a base of operations, it would be impossible for the League to coordinate any bigger operations in an easy manner, leading to higher crime rates and an increase in death or injury rates for civilians during really rocky events.

Thankfully, Batman had a backup in place as usual.

Sometimes, nobody could tell whether they should love or hate that man's paranoia.

Right now, Flash was sitting in a private room inside the newly named and built Hall of Justice, which was born into being by Batman earlier in the year, as a front meant to hide their secret base in the mountain.

'Too late for that.' Flash thought when he found out a few days ago.

Currently, he and Batman were waiting inside for the rest of the League members to arrive in order to discuss their plans involving dealing with the public, acquiring another center of operations, and any more info Batman managed to obtain in his investigations of the series of events.

They scheduled this meeting for right when Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter returned from their trip off-world since they would have had no idea what was going on, and definitely be sporting questions when they fly past the mountain.

"Hey guys." came Ollie's voice as he walked into the hall, all decked up and ready while constantly observing his surroundings, his fist clenched over his bow tightly.

Definitely has a form of PTSD at the moment.

'Who can blame him.' thought Flash as he sighed to himself.

Not only were they caught with their pants down.

Metaphorically speaking of course…

…fine, but it was only one time!

What really hit all of them hard, even Aquaman and the Hawks, was the fact that a kid had to save them.

But what really concerned Flash the most was one thing the kid had said to Joker while he was seemingly buying time for them to escape and trying to distract him.

"We're more similar than probably even Batman thinks." his voice echoed in his head.

What did he mean?

'Does he think of himself as another Joker?' his mind seemingly whispered to him.

He shuddered at the mere idea.

By the time he got out of his thoughts, he looked up and took notice of everyone finally being present in the room.

Right on time too since it's almost 4 P.M.

"Flash my friend, this must be really serious if you're on time for once." spoke up Hal in a joking tone as everyone started filling in their seat around the conference table.

A tone that informed Flash, that no, he definitely didn't fly by the mountain.

A tone Flash couldn't make up the energy to match at the moment, and he didn't think that energy would remain with Hal in a bit either.

The original founding members of the Justice League consisted of Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, as they all sat in the center of the U-shaped conference table at the front.

Green Lantern sat directly across from Flash, with Aquaman at the right, next to the ring bearer, Martian Manhunter across from him to Flash's left, and Superman sitting next to the Martian with Wonder Woman on the opposite side as well.

The Hawks were both sitting on Flash's right as well, with Green Arrow sitting across from them, on his fellow greenie's left.

Finally, Batman was smack dab in the middle as he was the one who requested this meeting originally.

After looking around the table at those gathered, Superman stood up and nodded his head at those present. "Thanks for gathering here everyone. I know we all have lots of questions, and thankfully Batman has taken it upon himself to answer all of our doubts about the situation. Batman, take it away."

Without even responding to Superman, he clicked a button in front of him bringing up a giant holographic screen in the center of the table for everyone to see, where files, videos, pictures, and other information were presented in a formatted manner.

"Last week at exactly 10:32 P.M." he began. "The Joker discovered the base at Mount Justice and launched an attack at the time when Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman were present. Our friend Lucas Carr was also there at the time."

Shock followed his words, mostly from Hal, as he had expected, and J'onn actually reeled back in surprise even though his features did not change much, meaning he didn't fly past the mountain either, while concern could be seen coming off Diana and Clark.

Batman had no change as usual, while the people affected lowered their heads slightly in shame, Flash included.

A video began to play, showing how the explosions went off, where they were located, the damage done, and how they were all taken out one by one.

Flash didn't think he'd be able to live down this literal slip-up for a while.

'I mean, who would expect a high-tech frictionless tile? Not me, that's who!'

"After taking down all 5 named heroes in targeted manners, while sealing off most of the entrances in the first assault, he then proceeded to capture them, before filling up the entire mountain with Joker Venom. Lucas was with Aquaman at the time as they were making their escape, and was protected by him during the blast, though still knocked unconscious." Batman continued, as images and files of information on the aforementioned gas popped up.

"Wait, how is he right now?" questioned Superman in concern.

"Thankfully, he was saved before the Joker Venom could do any lasting damage." Batman responded.

"I'm fine too, thank you for your concern." Aquaman tried to lighten the mood and failed with everyone looking back at him in worry at forgetting to check the obvious.

Batman gave them a reason to worry the next moment.

"For those of you who don't know, Joker Venom can come in two versions, being non-lethal and lethal. However, even the non-lethal version used in this attack can cause irreparable brain and organ damage if prolonged exposure occurs."

The horror and concern that popped up on Hal's face as he looked at the five heroes showed that he definitely did not know that. His mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish as he seemed to struggle with something.

Everyone else was in a similar state, worry burning even brighter, yet unable to voice it.

"Well, this is awkward…" Flash trailed off noticing everyone's stares, Aquaman sighed tiredly once more at the failed mood change.

J'onn however had no similar reservations as he turned to the five affected heroes and immediately questioned them. "Are you five unwell in any way? You do not have to force yourself for this meeting."

Batman deemed that inquiry appropriate to continue as he answered for them. "Thankfully, the emergency League alert managed to go off before being intercepted by Wildcard who was stationed at the Batcave at the time, before investigating the source of the incident and going into action, managing to rescue everyone and administering the antidote before any such permanent harm could occur."

Sighs of relief could be heard going around as Flash watched Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern seemed to have some kind of tension leave their shoulders.

Well, not for Martian Manhunter. He didn't even know if Martians could feel tension, but he definitely seemed more at ease.

'I feel kinda bad for not letting them know. I thought they already did.' thought Flash with some embarrassment.

By the looks on the rest of his unnamed colleagues' faces, they probably had similar thoughts as him, Aquaman now realizing how insensitive his earlier joke was.

"Was Wildcard the only one who responded to the alert? What about everyone else who wasn't present?" questioned Hal in confusion.

"You and Martian Manhunter were off-world, hence unavailable. Superman was dealing with a crisis involving Metallo in Metropolis, before requiring Wonder Woman's assistance. Finally, I myself was dealing with an attack in Gotham City Park by a new foe by the name of Poison Ivy." spoke Batman, having heard the reasons around a hundred times by now.

Flash could've sworn he heard a bit of annoyance leaking out of the Dark Knight's voice.

"You just let Wildcard, a child, go in to face the Joker, a man deemed publicly insane by the entire world, alone? Why did you not simply wait until one of us was available?" questioned Wonder Woman in slight anger.

Flash could sympathize with her. He was also annoyed and upset with himself at the time. A kid had to put himself in danger in order to save them in the end.

Batman, however, was prepared with a response as always.

"I was also vehemently against letting him go in alone at the beginning when he suggested it. However, as mentioned earlier, prolonged exposure to even the non-lethal version of Joker gas could lead to permanent damage if not treated in time."

"Wildcard realized this and further realized that I probably wouldn't make it in time due to my fight against Poison Ivy before being able to deal with Joker."

"He wasn't able to investigate the exact situation in Metropolis involving Metallo's reason for rampaging since time was crucial, but he had concluded that Superman and Wonder Woman would have taken a while as well or else there would have been no need for the former to have backup called in the first place"

"Keep in mind that Wildcard possesses powers involving forms of superintelligence, and high-speed calculation and information processing. He understood the risks before going in, and tried to minimize them before attempting to infiltrate the mountain."

"He had formed a plan meant to quickly incapacitate Poison Ivy, and asked that I rendezvous with him at the mountain immediately afterward. He went into the mountain around 10:47 P.M. and exited back out with the rest around 10:51 P.M. I arrived exactly a minute later."

The whole time Batman was speaking, images kept showing up on the screen in front of him, showing a detailed report and outline of Wildcard's plans, footage of when he had entered the cave right before destroying the cameras, and audio recordings of him impersonating Batman's voice.

"These are all the files, recordings, and plans submitted by Wildcard himself, and authenticated by me personally when reviewing the details."

A lot of the people looked impressed with how he had handled the situation, with Hal even whistling at him impersonating Bruce's voice.

Diana however, was less than enthused.

"This does not change the fact that a child ended up unaccompanied in a confrontation against what can be considered one of the greatest murderers in the world! You arriving a minute later doesn't show me anything except that you would have been too late to save him had something gone wrong." shouted Wonder Woman, her fist pounding against the table.

"By your words…" responded Bruce with narrowed eyes. "That would also mean I would have been too late in saving our colleagues. Lucas would've been dead long before that since he had no way to slow the spread of the Venom."

As tension was increasing between the two, with no one knowing how to defuse it, Superman decided to be the voice of reason.

"Alright let's calm down for a bit. Things managed to work out for the better in the end, and that's what we should be thankful for." he said while making a placating gesture with his hands.

"Then I'll say it again. This doesn't change the fact that we endangered a child due to our recklessness and mistakes." said Wonder Woman in a slightly calmer tone.

"And not to mention… Robin couldn't be more than 10 years old!" she spoke once again getting slightly agitated at the end.

At her words, the Bat Glare lowered in intensity, but remained, as Brue returned with a harder edge in his tone.

"That child is capable of superhuman physical feats, with intelligence greater than that, and capable of tying or even besting me in combat on numerous occasions."

"That child managed to save 5 veteran superheroes all on his lonesome, while also managing to defeat an enemy, miles away from him while in the confines of a cave."

"Even if he is a child in your eyes, that doesn't subtract anything from his achievements. He's been accumulating experience at my side since early last year, and he has proven himself time and time again. He is extremely calm, level-headed, powerful, trained, disciplined, and much more."

"As for Robin, he's still a work in progress." he glossed over Dick simply.

"Wishing for this to not happen again, and no longer wishing to be forced to concede to the help of a child, is a different matter which can be remedied through our actions in response to this incident and correcting whatever oversights we managed to discover as a result."

"However, I will not allow you to ever demean his results and efforts."

Silence greeted everyone for a few minutes at Bruce's speech, everyone stunned by the intensity he showed in defending Wildcard.

Most of them mulled over his words for a bit and came to a simple conclusion.

'Correct and straight to the point as usual.' thought Flash with a smile.

After a moment spent in her thoughts, Wonder Woman sighed and nodded her head at Batman. "Fine, you are correct. I did not mean to undermine his achievements. Do you at least know how Joker was able to discover the base's location?" she questioned.

"Yes it's been burning the back of my mind as well." piggybacked Aquaman.

"I've conducted an investigation, and the incident seems to have stemmed from Lucas. I questioned him extensively to get a clearer insight into what had occurred, and came to the conclusion that Joker managed to locate the base through him." Batman replied.

Immediately afterward, Hawkwoman slammed both of her fists into the table with more intensity than Wonder Woman had earlier, the frame visibly distorting, before standing up abruptly and leaning over the table.

"A traitor?!" she stated more than she questioned.

Before similar reactions of outrage could occur, however, Batman raised his hand while shaking his head.

"No, I had the same reservations as well. It was more due to carelessness in both our case and his. He didn't actively share the location with Joker as you're probably thinking."

"He wasn't even approached in any manner. One of Joker's contacts seemed to notice something strange in his itinerary before it was figured out from there, and he personally followed him to the cave and carried out the incident." he corrected.

"He even tried to call for help immediately as he was the first to notice Joker inside the base. Wildcard had found footage of him running through the cave in terror as the feeds were being cut out simultaneously."

Superman sighed at Hawkwoman as he spoke. "You should give Lucas more credit than that Shayera. We've known him for a while now, and he hasn't shown any indication of ever betraying us."

He then glanced at everyone at the table and addressed some more than others. "That goes for all of us."

Those words seemed to calm the room down slightly, with everyone at least having the decency to feel slightly ashamed. It's hard to keep calm when tensions are still running high. Although, almost everyone was still unhappy with the situation.

Well, except for Martian Manhunter. His face didn't change much since the beginning of the meeting, but some surprise would bleed through once in a while.

Batman took the lull that had occurred in the meeting room as his cue to continue.

"This incident has shown us that we've been too lax and taken too many liberties in how we've been operating in and out of the base. For that reason and having noticed this earlier myself, I had sought fit to have the Hall of Justice built as a coverup and front for us to remedy the issue."

"With Mount Justice compromised though, we are in need of a new base of operations. I have reviewed many locations that can serve such a purpose in the past week. We can put these locations to a vote after reviewing the information."

"Any questions before we proceed?" he eventually questioned.

"Yes, I have one. Did you even manage to sleep in the past week?" questioned Superman in a joking tone, getting a few chuckles all around.

Batman and Martian Manhunter were not one of the few, with the former narrowing a Bat Glare to the Man of Steel.

"Any 'meaningful' questions."

Flash took that as his cue to bring up his earlier concerns, as they kept eating at him since he thought of them at the beginning of the meeting.

"I have one, but it's more of a concern honestly. Do you have a good awareness of Wildcard's psychological and mental state? Because something he said when confronting Joker and buying time for us has been causing me some concern. I don't know if Green Arrow also heard it, but he was still in a confused state." he questioned in a slightly worried manner.

To which Green Arrow shook his head no.

Narrowing his eyes even further, this time leveling his Bat Glare in the most intense manner to date at the Speedster, he spoke only one word.

"Elaborate."

Quickly manning the controls in front of his seat, Flash pulled up one of the audio files everyone had skimmed through and seemed to skip through most of it, before coming to the part he was talking about.

"It's simple really." came the voice of Ben on the recording. "We're more similar than probably even Batman thinks. You say there can only be one joker? Last time I checked there were two Jokers or Wildcards in a deck. They can either be the strongest or weakest card depending on the situation."

Wonder Woman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman were the first to pick up on what Barry meant, while the rest were confused at first.

It took him replaying the recording 2 or 3 more times before everyone else picked up on it.

"Please explain to me what he meant when he said 'we're more similar than probably even Batman thinks' because I don't think the world can handle another Joker, to be honest." pleaded Flash, showing how this question seemed to be eating him up inside.

Everyone else matched his state of mind if most of the pale faces were anything to go by.

Except for, you guessed it, Batman and Martian Manhunter.

Without much thought, he began operating the computer in front of him as he responded.

"I have already questioned him on this matter myself as well, since last year when I was informed of his obsession with the man by Wildcard's own admittance. However, it's not in the manner you're thinking."

"Keep in mind that although young, as previously mentioned Wildcard is in possession of incredible intelligence, both intellectual and emotional, and also has self-awareness beyond maybe everyone in this room."

Before those words could completely register in everyone's minds, another audio file was pulled up before playing.

"Can you tell me the reason behind your choice of words when confronting Joker?" came Batman's voice.

"Which words exactly? You being indirect is unlike you." came Wildcard's voice, causing everyone to chuckle a bit since they could never picture Batman beating around the bush.

"The words, 'we're more similar than probably even Batman thinks'. What were your thoughts on such a choice of words at the time?"

"There were no thoughts on my mind at the time, I only spoke the truth to throw him off since it sounds absurd anyways. You already know my reasons." came the immediate reply.

Well, it didn't do much to ease the minds of those presently hearing those words though.

Oblivious to their plight, Batman's recorded voice continued. "And they are the truth, how exactly? Even if I know, this is being recorded for anyone who does not."

"Why do you think I insisted on naming myself Wildcard?"

"Again, you tell me."

"Very well. The very first time I met Joker when working with you, I realized that he was the exact opposite of everything I stand and live for, especially when it comes to what I saw through my powers. I never told you at the time, but I had to force myself not to kill him behind your back."

Everyone's shock at his words only continued to increase in amount. Could this kid really end up being another Joker?

"Then why didn't you kill him?" came Batman's million-dollar question.

"I told you, that would be the exact opposite of everything I stand for."

"Elaborate."

"Bonds and emotions." came Wildcard's heavy voice, surprising everyone with the chills they could feel popping up from just the intense apathy behind it.

As if he didn't care if the guy somehow lived or died.

"His name and actions are literally how he views how we live our lives. A Big. Massive. Joke."

"He takes pleasure in toying with the emotions and thoughts of the people around him, forcing them to commit acts in death that they would never commit otherwise, relishing in their misery even till their end. He is anarchy and chaos given form." came Wildcard's voice, only making the chills everyone in the room was feeling increase in intensity.

Even Martian Manhunter was beginning to look uncomfortable, and that's saying something.

"That is an insult to me, who views the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of everyone around him as a sacred script. Although I haven't had them for long, my powers literally revolve around that, and his actions and thoughts are practically my antitheses."

"The first time I saw him, you'd think I would see the usual tell-tale dark blue glow through my powers that represents his joy and excitement at the people he tortures since he's always laughing at people's predicaments…"

"But no. That's not even close to what I saw. He is an abomination. He is a hole in the universe that swallows everything around him, until all that's left is death, fear, hatred and anger in the wake of his actions. You can't even see a single emotion 'bleeding' off him like other people."

"Keep in mind that EVERYONE bleeds off some type of emotions constantly except for what I thought until then to have been only myself, and now him."

"That's why I called myself Wildcard. If my current self is on the right side of the spectrum, and Joker's on the left, then me from before I met you was smack dab in the middle, inching closer to Joker's side due to a series of events."

"With my powers, I could've ended up worse than him as well."

"Thankfully, the first time I met him, I refused to be like him. I abhorred him with a passion. You were already in my life by that point. I began seeing what I could do with my abilities, and felt like this was more my place than his."

"In the end, the situation became exactly what I told him earlier. It's a war, where the name we decide for our cards end up being the side we stand on. He ended up picking the Joker card, representing his need for chaos and mayhem in any kind of court, and the joy and laughs he receives due to it."

"Meanwhile I picked the Wildcard, representing the chaos that is my humanity, but in a controlled manner, while always trying to remain unpredictable against my enemies for whatever reasons I choose."

"I've made it my personal mission to put him down every time he tries to make waves as you've no doubt noticed. Now that he's seemed to have picked up on my grudge however, he's reciprocated my declaration of war by putting me on his so-called 'Killer Jokes' list."

"Even if I don't actively try to kill him, I can feel it in my soul that at some point, the decision will either come down to me or him, or him and somebody else, and I will happily choose him every single time." the voice of Wildcard eventually concluded, signaling the end of the audio file.

Silence reigned for what seemed like hours in the room after the audio file finished. Everyone was wondering what could compel such a kid to have such a heavily thought-out opinion.

"Wildcard already predicted that he would be asked to go over a mental review, and asked me to remind you all to do the same and go see psychiatrists and doctor's yourselves due to any lingering trauma that the event could've caused."

"I dismissed him at first, but now I see that he was correct in his worries." Batman spoke up again, his face turned to Green Arrow who still had his bow tightly clenched at his side.

Everyone followed his line of sight, causing the archer to quickly put it over his shoulder, chuckling awkwardly.

"Alright fine. You've convinced me. If he was as lunatic as the Joker then being worried about others would be the last thing on his mind." Hawkman spoke.

Similar motions of agreement went around the table at that.

Batman decided to interject once again before everyone else first.

"I would also like to add a further note that Wildcard insisted on reviewing my investigation report before it even made it on the table, in order to see if I missed anything when going over the attack, that may prove a fatal oversight."

Before anyone could lambast him for the clear breach of League protocol that he PERSONALLY set up himself and reviewed hundreds of times due to paranoia, he raised his hand once again to prevent any interruption as he continued in the most serious manner to date.

"I already know my breach of protocol, but we can discuss this after. Using his powers to re-enact and comb through every detail, Wildcard made sure that the series of events in the investigation were all accounted for, with no blindspots in Joker's actions being missed by us."

"I had planned on bringing this part of the investigation up later when tensions weren't running as high, but since Wildcard's mentality has been brought into question, this conclusion he has formed, should it prove to be correct, will most definitely clear any lingering suspicions cast on him and bring to light an extreme threat."

"In the end, he brought up an extremely concerning point using his psychological and analytical prowess, before logging it into an audio file."

A screen popped up in front of everyone once again, before Wildcat's voice came out once again.

"Audio Log 27 Incident Report: Mount Justice: Joker's Invasion."

"The League Emergency Signal was sent out by Mount Justice at around 10:30 P.M EST on May 17, 2006. Eventually, it was received by the Batcave's computer at exactly 10:32 P.M EST, before live video surveillance was pulled up by the computers once again with recordings of the 5 named heroes, Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman falling susceptible to attack."

"Furthermore, Lucas Carr was identified to have been running through the halls of Mount Justice, but it was unknown for what reason at the time as video feeds kept cutting out."

"In a round of explosions, video recordings of Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman falling unconscious on the spot can be seen. The Flash and Aquaman were not subjected to the same state, and attempted to scout and escape the base with their teammates respectively."

"It was at this point that Aquaman ran into individual Lucas Carr, where I believe that he was informed of Joker's presence inside the mountain. I was unable to tell if that was what he said in the end due to how quickly and anxiously the man was conveying the information, making his lips unreadable for me to read."

A quick glance at Aquaman got everyone a tired nod, showing Wildcard to be correct in his assessment so far.

"Eventually, I arrived outside the perimeter of Mount Justice alone at 10:45 P.M EST, before entering inside 2 minutes later and evacuating with the captured heroes at 10:51 P.M EST."

Said videos once again popped up, with the series of events playing out, reminding the named five of their failure once again, annoying them.

But things took a turn no one expected.

"Please note that an extreme oversight was made when this investigation was carried out as focus was only directed to determining the correctness of the series of events and not towards our enemy's thoughts, leading to a possibly fatal future threat."

Now, his words ended up gaining everyone's attention, curious as to what threat he could be speaking about.

"Between the times of 10:32 P.M. and 10:47 P.M. EST when I had first breached the area, an assumption was made based on earlier video surveillance feeds that Joker had destroyed any and all visuals, attempting to keep his actions blinded."

"This assumption was quickly derailed however when I first breached the cave, having noticed that he had taken over the systems instead."

"He had ended up putting focus into the motion sensors at the time of my entry, before attempting to turn his attention to the cameras placed in the area as I destroyed them, and ended up mistaking me for Batman."

"In the previously mentioned time frame, where we were blocked out as he had taken control of the systems."

"After conducting an extensive search, it was determined that the footage for those 15 minutes was found to be missing as now included in the report."

Everyone immediately became serious at those words, as some went to pull up the files, now noticing those words on their documents before their faces paled as they read what he included further down afterward.

Flash practically had a heart attack at what he was reading as time seemed to slow down for him, even though he wasn't using his powers. Green Arrow was the next person to have a pale face, looking like he would faint at any moment.

Wildcard's words were the rest of the confirmation needed for them to determine the magnitude of the situation, being just the tip of the iceberg with the way Batman worded it.

"Although it is possible for him to have spent those 15 minutes setting up the trap I walked into for preparation to be used on Batman."

"It is with a sound mind and understanding of the Joker's mental facilities that I find this to be highly unlikely since he tends to make use of every opportunity, a trait shared with his rival."

'Amen to that.' Flash thought, trying to lighten up his mood.

He failed.

"I believe that with the exception of Aquaman, Hawkwoman, and Hawkman, the assumption must be made that the Joker managed to use his time wisely and that he was able to unmask Justice League Member: The Flash, designation 04, and Justice League Member: Green Arrow, designation 08, discovering their true identities and putting their civilian identities and relations at immediate risk."

"It is with this assumption made, that I must draw attention to the fact that a huge threat has reared its head, the severity of which now depends on the Joker's next actions. There are many factors to consider as well such as whether or not he would somehow share this information with other less-than-pleasing groups."

"Even though I am of the mind that he would usually keep such information to himself to use at a certain time to carry out a blow no one expects, as earlier stated, other factors or events can always occur randomly to change that. Questions must be asked as well, and any and all possibilities taken into account."

"If he managed to figure out the two mentioned heroes' identities, what's to stop him from doing the same for others? Is he willing to wait on using this information like he usually does, or is he willing to work with someone to accomplish his goals more quickly?"

"Even though I would like to claim to have the best grasp of the man's mind, the Joker is still an extremely chaotic and unpredictable person. It is considered a fool's folly to believe that he can be completely understood."

"End of report."

A heavy silence seemed to settle at the table as everyone finally realized why Batman was willing to even mention his break in protocol.

He could've done it and never mentioned it, but he knew the severity of the situation and refused to deny his friends the information just provided to them.

He was right in wanting to bring this up later.

The reasons for Wildcard excluding Aquaman, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman became obvious immediately, as their identities were already public, with the Hawks not really having many relations that could be exploited here on earth, and with Aquaman being safe most of the time in the sea with his entire kingdom at the ready to fight.

Suddenly, Flash and Green Arrow shot up out of their seats, ready to race away to the Zeta Tubes, when Batman stopped them.

"Wait." he said, causing them to turn to look at him, anger present in their eyes, before he explained himself.

"I know you wish to be by your family and friends side, worried for their safety, but this is not the way. I have already considered the thought that Joker may use this time to attack them when you're currently away. Wildcard doubted that idea, stating that the man would rather wait and bide his time until he was out of the public's mind, before striking again in an intense and incredibly showy manner to remind them of his presence."

"However, in the end, caution won out. Both Robin and Wildcard are out watching over your families for the duration of this meeting, with emergency buttons on them ready and waiting should an incident occur."

Visibly sagging in relief at the man's words, both plopped down back in their seats, energy seemingly drained from their countenance, as another silence settled upon the place, with Hawkman and the Martian putting their hands on their fellow speedster's shoulder to provide some comfort, and Green Lantern doing the same with his fellow color buddy.

Eventually, the silence was broken by Green Arrow as he questioned in a shaky voice "Is it possible that he was wrong?"

"As mentioned earlier in the file, we can only assume as such. However, note that Wildcard is in possession of a form of psychometry, which he used by visiting the Mountain a few days later, attempting to determine if his guess was correct."

"For the sake of time, I will not go into too much detail on how it works, as it can be found in the information given for later perusal if so wished."

"In summary, by attempting to absorb the excess emotions bled within an area in a certain timeframe, Wildcard is able to review the memories, sights, thoughts, actions, impressions, etc. that were carried out at the time, re-enacting a scene to near perfection using his intelligence and capabilities if needed."

"Due to the heroes at the time of the incident being unconscious, for obvious reasons, there were no memories, sights, or thoughts to be shared. However, impressions can still be felt whether you're asleep or not."

"He noticed that Flash, Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman's masks were tampered with in some way, denoting that Joker had to have either done something with them or shifted and removed them in some way as earlier stated." concluded the Dark Knight.

Once again silence greeted everyone before J'onn decided to put in his own opinion as well.

"I speak from experience when I state that everything Wildcard says was most likely the truth. Batman once brought him to me when he first discovered his powers in order for me to see how it affects him mentally. After extensive testing, we still haven't determined his limits."

That brought everyone's attention, as the Martian was their resident psychic, and the most honest person in the room.

…Well that point is arguable if you include Superman in that decision.

"So what was the result?/And your conclusion?" asked Hawkman and Aquaman simultaneously, before looking at each other and nodding.

"I was immediately knocked unconscious." he spoke calmly to the surprise of everyone in the room par Batman as usual.

"What exactly caused that?" questioned Superman in concern.

"His emotions, as he has already mentioned it. He is drowned in them, whether they be his own, or the universes." replied J'onn.

Hearing his answer, everyone was still confused because they didn't understand much of what he meant.

Emotion is a broad word with a lot of meanings.

"Do you mean that he feels more than others? Doesn't that mean he's just an empath?" asked Green Arrow.

However, the Martian shook his head at the question.

"I was just as confused as all of you, and his explanation to my queries made no sense to me as well. As such, he 'dumbed it down', as he put it, for me in the simplest explanation possible."

"Which is…?" asked Hawkwoman, with everyone leaning into their seats.

J'onn chose that moment to shift his face and body into Wildcard's at the moment, before using his exact dead tone and body language to properly replay his exact words.

"Do you know Green Lantern? The guy who gets his powers from a ring, depending on how much determination he musters? I am the exact same but can do more eventually and without the ring."

"His ring runs on Green Light energy from the Emotional Spectrum, while I'm connected to the entire Emotional Spectrum. I can do everything he does, as well as those of the other colored lantern corps, at the minimum with some practice."

"I should be capable of using any form of power related to emotions if I can figure out how they work."

"Off the top of my head, I know around 606 different types of powers that are related to emotions in some way. I can use them if given enough time and effort."

When J'onn changed back, everyone was dumbfounded at his words. If he was half as strong as Green Lantern, then he was pretty high up there right along with them probably.

And that would just be in straight power fights. As this incident showed them, his analytical prowess and his manipulation of his powers in other manners make him a force to be reckoned with all on his own.

But what he said about the number of powers related to emotions had everyone stunned in some way.

"Woah. That's intense." muttered Flash, Green Arrow agreeing with him a moment later.

"By the gods." Wonder Woman whispered in surprise.

"Batma-"

"I already know." Batman interrupted the Man of Steel, tiredness actually being heard in his voice slightly.

"I'm still trying to figure out how best to help him." he spoke, ending that line of conversation before it could even form.

However, one person was more dumbfounded, shocked, and confused than the rest.

"You're telling me that there's more than one colored ring?!" asked Hal in agitation.

"That's all you managed to get from that?" asked Green Arrow in exasperation.

"And he told you this is the simple version?" again questioned Wonder Woman.

"Yes, his exact words when I failed to understand his earlier meanings were 'guess you just have to feel it in order to even understand'. " spoke J'onn.

When everyone began to calm down and focus once again, Batman continued where they had left off.

"Is the manner of Wildcard's report, and explanation of his state of mind, satisfactory to those concerned?"

He received nods all around, with Flash exhaling in visible relief at his earlier query being answered.

"And can we expect you all to get professional help as well? Or should we be looking over your shoulders just in case?" he questioned his colleagues.

Aquaman and Green Arrow went to argue, but after a couple of worried glances and some whispered words from their buddies, he received agreement from everyone involved in the incident.

"Good. I will also see to it that Lucas gets help as well. I believe it would be a good idea to get proper help for everyone here in the League in general, but that conversation could be saved for another day." Batman spoke after another moment

He once again turned to the files pulled up in the center of the table on the locations he had earlier mentioned.

"Then let's turn our attention back to the point of the discussion beforehand. Shall we go through the locations I have provided before putting it to a vote as mentioned earlier?"

It was at this point that Green Lantern decided to intervene.

"Actually, I have a better idea if you wanna hold up on that for a few days while I go for another trip to visit the Guardians to verify this kid's information first."

If he was annoyed, Batman didn't show it for his part.

"Elaborate."

With a slightly mischievous smile on his face, he asked only one question.

"How do we feel about space stations?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it folks! Something to satisfy your Justice League cravings if any are present at all!

I obviously want to focus on our MC most of the time, but understanding the other characters in the universe is important, since you need to feel how our character's presence and actions, indirect or not, affect everyone around him.

As you've no doubt picked up on (if you were paying attention to the hint in this story) just like any other powers, ones relating to Emotions are extremely broad in range and application, one of the reasons I picked up the Emotional Spectrum as part of this book. It has so much untapped potential it's not even funny.

Literally just search on google "powers related to emotions". I used the exact number sited on Superpower Wiki as the basis for just the potential he has. And that's just for that website, obviously there can be more!

So for those of you who are probably worrying about the MC's strength, just don't. He WILL become powerful. That's a fact. There's no reason for him not to be in a universe like DC. It's just a matter of when and how.

And I'll tell those of you who haven't figured it out yet. Emotions won't be his only range of powers. That will be updated in the character info sheet as time passes.

Even though that will delete the wonderful comments in there, I want you guys to be more updated and informed more.

Moving on... let me shed some light to some of you guys on DC and the Emotional Spectrum specifically. Mainly for my less than informed subjects.

First off, did you know there was a Golden Lantern? Apparently he was featured in newer itineration's and I only just found out about him when I was researching some stuff.

The Gold Light was supposed to represent the emotion of joy and happiness, giving the wielder the ability to use the entire spectrum's powers, of all colored lights.

I almost had a heart attack when I discovered that before I started this story, yet when I continued to read about some of the other DC characters, I realized that my story's basis was still perfect based on what I discovered and already mapped out.

There are many characters in DC who hinted at different types of the Emotional Spectrum existing, and I'm amazed that some of you didn't get the first one when you were debating it this week.

I can't tell whether to be disappointed with you guys or not.

First off, we have DC's fan favorite, Raven!

If you're a true DC Comics or Teen Titan's fan, then you should already know about her emoticlones. Although not explicitly stated by the creators, each different colored clone hinted at different parts of the ES, some of them accounting for it differently in some way.

For example, her red clone represents her anger which was consistent with the Red Light, and her green clone represents bravery, consistent with the Green Light, and violet clone represents passion and love, somewhat consistent with the Violet Light.

Then you have some that were replaced without explanation, her yellow clone representing knowledge, brown=sloth, graphite=timidity, and etc.

As you can tell, some of these either don't exist in what we know of the Spectrum, or are inconsistent with some of the already existing ones like the Yellow Light.

When I found that happiness and joy were represented by her pink clone, you have no idea how many tears of joy I cried.

These DC creators can be so inconsistent sometimes.

My idea was still feasible by comic explanation standards! (Which even though I obviously shouldn't have high expectations of or intend to completely stick to, it's still a good way to start off the beginning of my story before I introduce more of my own elements.)

Her white clone was meant to represent perfect balance, but you can already tell I changed that. To know why I planned it that way, you have to read to find out.

Then, there's one more person who was hinted at having different powers related to the Emotional Spectrum, this time in Young Justice.

If you watched Season 3 and 4, then you should be well acquainted with Violet Harper, aka Halo!

For those of you who didn't watch those seasons, I apologize for the slight spoilers. Just skip if you want to.

But anyways...

Once again, although not explicitly stated, her powers seemed to have a connection with the Emotional Spectrum, with some showing different uses of different colors for things that they weren't known for before.

For example, instead of Indigo Light being used for healing as we are already used to in the comics, her Violet Aura can heal her even if from near death. Indigo was used for her to create her own boom tubes.

Then there was that whole Rainbow Power Aura they gave her.

So, even if inconsistent, DC dropped those hints, and now it's up to me to make use of them to create my story!

Obviously it's not perfect, but please keep in mind that I already have an idea of what I want to accomplish, and that I've taken steps to try and minimize any and all mistakes or plot holes.

Although I want to promise that there will be no mistakes, I can't.

Some nonsense will somehow end up being inserted here or there in this story for things I can't reliably explain that make more sense in my head, but I'm trying to prevent that and use logical reasoning and deduction to create something believable and real.

As I said before in my author's note for those of you who managed to see it, I wish to pay slight homage to what DC stands for. I want to make you all 'Detectives'.

As a wise ninja once said, "A detective must look underneath the underneath."

Obviously I modified the saying for my purpose, but you get the point.

The hints are there for stuff I planned or will come about, you just have to see them.

I hope I managed to answer some of your doubts and provide you with an explanation about the story, and that you managed to see the hints I gave you for it's possible future direction.

Some things are subject to change thanks to some of the amazing ideas or suggestions I heard from all of you, but the general outlook is the same, and there shouldn't be any major plotholes.

Another thing I wished to bring to attention. I read some complaints about the updating schedule and I have to tell you guys again, I understand your plight as I feel the same for some of my favorite stories that take forever to update. But what can I do?

Burnout is a real thing and I want to avoid it at all costs. I write for my enjoyment and betterment first, and although your satisfaction and support is amazing and I love it, it's still secondary in the end.

But I'm not without solutions...

I have chapters in reserve for rainy days in case something comes up, so I can only do this a a scarce few times.

But, we'll start for right now.

If by next week I manage to see 1.5k power stones at any point before or after Sunday when they reset, pushing me up the rankings in some way, you'll get two chapters.

The upload would still have to be on Friday though, since I have a still have a life and do everything alone and I would have to proofread everything like 10 times like I usually do before posting it.

Again, I'm trying to make up for my update schedules with quality.

And since it wouldn't be fair to my Patreons otherwise, everyone will also get another chapter on there for all tiers.

I'm already planning on coming up with certain Patreon goals to be reached before I do anything more. But for now, this will have to do.

Like for example, if I reach at least 50 patrons, all tiers get an increase of one chapter in early access, making it 2,3, and 4 respectively.

Something like that, you know?

Finally, I just wanted to give some good news for whoever is interested. Thanks to the suggestion of one of my Patrons, I have uploaded this story onto fanfiction.net as well if you wish to follow or favorite it. It's the same name and everything, my account name being GeoRuler.

For all of my patrons who are on here, the next chapter will be updated in a few more hours as it still needs to go through some final checks.

I can't stress this enough... QUALITY IS IMPORTANT!

I thank all of you guys who stuck out to read up till here in the end, and I hope that this journey remains a strong and joyous one, spanning a great amount of time.

Thanks!

patreon.com/Geo_Ruler