277 Chapter 272: World War III Part 2

The League was struck with a heavy blow due to another death of an important member of the senior team. So they had no choice but to investigate deeper into the matter concerning the unknown being that had killed three of their members. 

Because of the words Arias had spoken on the scene, he had led them to believe that Darkseid was involved, and considering he arrived via boom tube, everyone was confident that this was the case, but what could they do about it? It wasn't like with another villain where they could simply track them down and deal with them. This was a being who, not long ago, they had struggled to stop from invading Earth. 

Although the League had also been making great strides in studying Apokoliptian technology, they weren't ready for a full-on attack on warworld. Arias was sure of this because, if they took a moment to consider that someone who worked for Darkseid, or at least with him, was that strong, there was likely a possibility of more individuals of that level, in which case, they would simply be walking to their deaths.

So, first and foremost, they needed to study what exactly that being wanted, what his abilities were, and if he had any weaknesses. This was a tall order to perform, even for Batman, as they had little to no information on this. However, it didn't stop an investigation from being launched, with the League now using any and all measures at their disposal to try and deal with this. 

For starters, Batman went to the scene of the clash so he could better investigate and gain as many clues as he could on the being that attacked. Any residual evidence that was left was then handed over to Dr. Fate, who using arcane means would be made to try and track the person.

As if that weren't enough, John Stewart, the other Green Lantern of earth, had now gone off-world with hopes that the Green Lantern Corps would have more information regarding the individual. As a final addition, all League members were now on the lookout for any information to do with that being. It was that serious.

But with all their focus now turned to a made-up entity, Arias could enact another one of his plans, one that was reaching its boiling point. 

Currently, the situation involving Markovia and other nations was at its pinnacle. The U.S and other nations banded together to stop it from monopolizing metahumans. Despite the presence of Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Harley, and other heroes hoping to stand for what they believed in, the nations weren't backing down. They understood that doing so would simply mean allowing Markovia to build the largest metahuman population on Earth in just a few years' time, which would no doubt make it a world superpower, at least strength-wise, and that was something few nations were willing to allow.

However, before any move could be made, all eyes were on the super nations, those with the biggest say on matters like the US. Because of how important a matter this was, the US was now debating declaring war with Markovia. However, declaring war wasn't as simple as the president choosing to do so. 

The first step involved the president holding discussions and meetings with the National Security Council and key members of the cabinet, such as the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State. However, the final nail fell onto Congress, as even the president needed their approval for a formal declaration to be made. For this, debates and votes needed to happen in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This was the process currently happening within the country, and to the surprise of many, numerous politicians were in support of a potential war.

If one looked simply at it from a broader spectrum, they'd come to understand that circumstances were very much in favor of the US. For one, the fact that numerous nations wanted to band together against Markovia meant that they wouldn't need to expend a lot of military power. Another bonus was the postponement of elections. 

Although the US didn't suspend elections even during times of conflicts, they could at the very least postpone them for a given time, and this was what the president was hoping for. Why? Because if he did so and brought a good result from the war on Markovia, his public rating would rise as he would've solved a fairly huge potential threat to the current world balance that existed.

The debate on whether to start a war or not was currently the topic on everyone's lips, even some among the public were for it, mostly those who discriminated against metahumans and wished for their numbers to reduce.

The same situation was occurring in other countries. Those with more absolute power for their leader had already reached concise decisions and were likely only waiting for the US to make a move as well.

However, Arias understood that under normal circumstances, the debates would run on for a long time. Thus, periodic votes were always cast on whether or not a war would be declared, and during these votes, if the majority of members agreed that more time was needed to come to a decision, the day could be postponed yet again. Thus far, this instance had been done twice, and it was looking like a third time would happen, out of the maximum six that would be granted.

Any smart person would see that they were simply using this as a means to further postpone the date at which elections would be held. Because despite many politicians not exactly being on good terms with the president, they didn't want to see Slade Wilson become president. Some for more selfish reasons, others for obvious ones such as his criminal history, character, and association with various enemies.

Many in the political world believed if Slade Wilson became president, it was more or less handing more power to the corporations. In fact, court proceedings were supposed to be held regarding Slade's candidacy for president, given Arias's association with Markovia. 

They argued that it would be a matter of national interest and security. This didn't surprise Arias at all. He knew the road to making Slade president would not be an easy one, especially in a country like the states that couldn't be so easily fooled by minor misdirections. Thus, he prepared his next move.

So, a few days passed without him making a single move. Then, on the day when the House of Representatives and the Senate were set to meet for more debates and another vote, Arias acted. 

Using the information Slade had provided on every member of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Arias used Tala and Enchantress to systematically kidnap one or two members of the family of each representative and congressman. Then, at the same time, minutes before the debates were about to begin, each member received a message asking them to vote against going to war, or else their loved ones would die. Should they vote for anything else or ask for more time, their loved ones would die. 

And so began Arias's attack.