278 Chapter 273: World War III Part 3

Unsurprisingly, Arias's decision to kidnap those family members triggered an immediate reaction from the government. 

The US was notorious for not submitting to acts of terrorism, and this was immediately regarded as such. Although some members who had received the message were initially quiet, everyone soon broke out and revealed that they had each been sent this message. After this, a roll call was conducted to confirm that indeed, everyone had one of their loved ones kidnapped by unknown parties who demanded that they vote against the war.

For many, this triggered worldwide anger from both the public and fellow governments, considering what the demand was. The easiest assumption to be made was that this was done by Markovia. After all, it wasn't impossible if they sent metahumans who could teleport or move without being seen to carry out the tasks. It looked like a desperate move from Markovia and told the world that they were not confident they could win in a war.

However, history has shown that attacks or threats on a nation's democratic processes or government structure often led to a rallying effect where political differences were temporarily put aside, and this was exactly what happened. 

The political leaders saw this act of kidnapping and terrorism as a grave insult and a declaration of war. However, they couldn't assume such without concrete proof that Markovia was indeed responsible was what the democratic processes demanded, along with international law. But given the circumstances, everyone, including the political leaders, thought that this much was true.

Regardless, the debates and voting were not postponed. As history once again showed, rarely would the US allow even acts of terrorism on their soil to disturb democratic processes and decisions. And so, the debates were carried out, taking far less time than they had prior. Then came the voting, and to no one's surprise, the majority now voted for war against Markovia.

Several minutes after the vote was held, the US president made the announcement to the public and to the world that the US was now at war with Markovia. But little did the world, the political leaders, and the president know that this was exactly what Arias was hoping for. Yet again, using another tool that had worked so well for him, misdirection. 

To misdirect on a large scale, Arias had to do something grand and offensive. So, by kidnapping the family members of important political figures and demanding they vote against the war, he knew he would obviously make the world assume that this was Markovia's doing. And by doing so, it would cause a country notorious for answering terrorism with brute force to act.

Humans, at every level, were creatures of emotion. One just needed to know the right circumstances and buttons to push to invoke one's anger, sadness, or happiness. In this case, it was anger that was invoked. 

Almost immediately after the declaration of war was made, Arias had Tara give a statement to the public that her country was not responsible for the kidnappings and that the matter of kidnapping was simply an excuse for the US to use to declare war on them. 

From start to finish, Markovia had been lobbying for peace, so some did indeed believe that it didn't make sense for them to make such a desperate decision, even if a war was pending. Many, however, shrugged this off due to the person in charge, Tara. 

She was young, inexperienced, and many argued she may have been convinced that kidnapping family members of pivotal political figures could change the result of the pending war. It was a bold assumption to make, but it was what many believed.

Regardless of what people believed, Arias didn't care. He simply needed Markovia to stick to its image, and by giving her statement of innocence, he ensured they had done so. 

Following the US's declaration of war on Markovia, several more nations did the same. However, they lacked the reason like the US, most fabricating some legal jargon or reason to do so. So, in a mere day, and due to one pivotal event, the Third World War began with Markovia as the collective enemy.

Then, wasting no time, nations closer to Markovia immediately began to launch attacks, bombarding certain areas with missiles and causing devastating destruction. It was at this time that Wonder Woman and Supergirl went into action to save the people of Markovia. In doing so, Supergirl was now branded an enemy of the state in the US, along with Wonder Woman and anyone else fighting for Markovia.

Events were happening so fast that it was almost hard to believe, especially for the Justice League, who had just decided to direct their focus toward something else. They were ill-equipped to respond to this and weren't even sure where to start. 

The declaration of war was huge, and even if Superman tried to convince the president otherwise, he didn't have the power to simply call off the war.

Without better understanding the circumstances, they themselves couldn't get involved, even in the act of rescuing people. If Markovia was indeed at fault, then they would be fighting for a country that chose to kidnap children and women to influence a decision in their favor. So, no matter how they felt about the war, after looking at the circumstances, they knew they couldn't act in the interest of any side. And Arias knew this. 

They needed to carry out an investigation and see just who was the instigating party. Did the US really fake the kidnappings up so they could have a reason for the war, or did Markovia actually do it in a desperate attempt to stop the war? Unfortunately, they wouldn't get the chance to investigate, because following the Day 1 attacks on Markovia, Tara put out another statement, warning the world that if every single nation that had declared war on Markovia didn't reverse the decision, they would suffer the consequences on Day 2. Because, just because Markovia wanted peace, it didn't mean they were without offensive power.

This was yet again another carefully crafted maneuver from Arias, which he knew would be ignored. 

And come Day 2, even more attacks were launched on Markovia. Little did the world know that by doing so, they had set in motion a great change that was about to occur to the balance of power in the world.