44 Chapter 43 Tsukyuomi. Brainwashed

Destroying an entire city filled with millions of innocent lives to prove a point?

"You've gone Mad". Bruce growled angrily. The display of anger on his face was so vivid that people who knew Batman would be surprised.

"Really? I don't feel like a madman". Amari raised an eyebrow and said with a blank face.

"Anyone who would even consider destroying an entire city filled with millions of people in cold blood is nothing short of a monster".

Bruce's heart beat frantically, the palpitations due to worry and fear. All the hairs on his body stopped on end when such a dreadful possibility appeared in his mind.

The extreme sense of crisis that that ball of energy gave to him only assured him that this wasn't a bluff at all.

That energy ball was real, and capable of doing what Amari said it would do. As for whether Amari would do it or not? The indifferent expression on his face was practically an answer on its own.

Amari chuckled at his words.

"Whether I'm a monster or not is debatable. But do I look like I care about the result?"

".... Why?" Bruce asked grimly.

"Why you ask?"

"Your actions are plain madness. No matter the result it accomplishes, it will make you and the earth irreconcilable". Batman staggered a bit yet his firm tone never wavered.

"We might be wary of you, but we will never stop hating you, stop loathing you, stop looking for any possibility to defeat you".

Bruce spoke solemnly. The situation had escalated far out of his control. First, it was a spaceship, then missing Leaguers, then beat up Leaguers, and now the possibility of the destruction of Gotham.

This was something he couldn't allow to happen no matter what. Now, he could only hope that Amari would listen to reason. However, the next set of words that came out left him somewhat stunned.

"Isn't that what you want?" Amari's voice was calm.

"How could that be what I....." He said, subconsciously defending himself, only for his words to trail off at the end.

"Oh really? Then why Bruce?" Amari asked.

"You led the League to encircle me, another led to invade my property, and then you used force after you failed". His tone grew colder and colder with each sentence.

"I've got to ask. Do you think so little of me"?

"That I'm like any other villain you cross paths with where you have the full right to barge in and treat me how you will, expecting me to take it as it is?"

"Well, if this isn't the rhythm of making enemies, then I don't know what is".

Bruce took two steps back in disbelief, his facial features were marred with confusion and a bit of disbelief.

"I..." Shaking his head to get rid of useless thoughts, he replied, "..... Never wanted it to get this far".

"We just wanted to know what was in the meteor. It's our Job to make sure the earth is secure".

"Isn't Cadmus dangerous? Don't you know that they carry out illegal experimentation? I mean, there's literally a little Superman running around with that little team of Proteges you and the rest of the league have. It should serve as sufficient evidence. Why don't you also forcibly detain Lex Luthor against his will and search through everything he has according to what you're doing to me?"  Amari asked with intrigue.

"....." Bruce was speechless.

"Nothing?" Amari raised an eyebrow.

".... You and Luthor aren't the same". Batman said in a grave and deep tone. Ignoring the amusement on Amari's face.

"In my evaluation, you are much more dangerous than him. Your potential threat far exceeds Lex".

"Because I'm not human?"

Batman didn't say a word. The silence was an answer on Its own.

"Looks like I'm right". Amari clicked his tongue and said blandly.

"When we first encountered, I had the same prejudice against Superman". Seeing that things were taking a wrong turn, Bruce spoke up immediately.

"You were right about one thing. Earth in this time is primitive. Our civilization compared to the vast universe is inherently far weaker and more vulnerable. Both in terms of power and technology, therefore when someone with far stronger capabilities notice us, we can easily be enslaved'.

His tone gave off a dark and gloomy feeling. The hoarse voice which was due to the voice modulator within his suit amplified this feeling.

Amari listened to his speech and felt like Bruce was telling some kind of cool action story, or a movie intro talking about the initial dark times.

"When Superman first announced himself to the world, I was skeptical. Wary that he would suddenly get drunk on power and try to turn the entire world into his domain. As that kind of power, easily corrupts and is not something any man should easily wield".

"My assumptions were proved right when General Zod, a survivor of Superman's race, appeared on earth and decided to wipe us out for his own selfish goals of rebuilding his destroyed civilization".

"You Otherworlders have that preconceived notion within you. A classic conceit for the ones you deem inferior species. You see humans no more than ants to be trampled on, as entities not worthy of your concern. Our lives are probably no more than street cabbage". Although his tone was flat, Amari could hear the slight grinding of the Caped Crusader's teeth.

The tensing of his fists and the arching of his back

"Thankfully, I was wrong about Superman. The same, however, can't and won't be said for you". Batman's gaze landed firmly on the spinning energy ball that pulsated with pure destructive power, letting out occasional hums as if expressing its desire to destroy.

"You, J'onn and Clark, may all be aliens, but you are different from both of them. I've seen it in you. Similar to Zod, Stepphenwolf and other villains we have faced, you don't regard human life as anything important. As can be seen from your apparent willingness to destroy all of Gotham to prove a point".

"Luthor may be our enemy, and the damages he has caused in his schemes may cause lives to be lost, but even he wouldn't play with the life of an entire city just to get to Superman. So in my eyes, you pose a danger threat to humanity".

"For someone with such power, technology and no humanity to stay within our planet, forgive me if I don't feel comfortable".

"I was wrong about Clark, but I doubt I'm wrong about you. You might be just as powerful as he is, but you're not Superman". With narrowed eyes, the caped crusader ended.

And what followed was silence.

The wind blew in the Gotham night, causing Batman's cape and Amari's hood to move with it. Bruce had solemnity in his eyes, while Amari plainly held a ball of mass destruction in his right hand, sporting an amused face.

Until....

"Hahahaha!" Amari laughed.

"Oh my God... I mean…. Sorry…. hehehe". The laughter soon broke down to small chuckles under Batman's confused gaze.

"Sorry bout that. I just couldn't help myself. I mean, although it sounded pretty good, touching and inspiring, all that coming out of someone who's under the influence of mind control.....now that's rich".

Another round of laughter escaped his lips as Amari chuckled in genuine amusement.

But Batman wasn't amused in the slightest.

Bruce frowned, and his narrowed eyes gave off the signature bat glare.

"What are you talking about".

"Hehe..... Oh? You still haven't realized it, have you?"

Amari clicked his tongue and asked with a smile.

"Then let me show you". As soon as he dropped his words, Batman's consciousness was pulled into an illusion.

A second later, his mind was returned to his body. Right when Bruce regained himself, his face turned slightly pale while taking multiple steps backwards.

"No... No....." He muttered the same word over and over.

"Surprised?" Amari asked.

"It can't be". Bruce retorted with a growl.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen".  Amari remarked calmly, to which, The Dark Knight grunted and held his head in pain.

"A member of Earth's mightiest heroes, mind controlled by an enemy for so long without he, or his friends, noticing". A chuckle escaped his lips.

"But don't feel too bad, you're not the only one who suffered. The rest of the League experienced the same thing as well. If not, at least someone would have stepped up to rebuke your actions....." Batman still held his head, unable to regain his composure.

"It's sad really".

"When?" Bruce, who was slowly regaining himself, asked in a low tone.

"During the Central City Invasion. Mericrozz". He answered with a few words.

"The White Martian". Bruce's eyes narrowed. "Yep". With a nod, Amari continued.

"Mericrozz isn't just a regular white Martian. As you can see from the white and dark skin in her Martian Form, her telepathic capabilities are so powerful, she could cover the entire planet in her telepathy. When they were departing, she extended her telepathy to cover the entire earth, where she not only planted subtle psychic imprints within your minds but also tried to invade mine. As you can tell, she failed miserably. And due to her actions, I destroyed their escape vessel". He said with a nonchalant shrug.

"She probably meant to leave these imprints dormant to be activated for a later use. What for, I don't know, neither do I care, but when I destroyed their Mothership, she survived and appeared on earth with the Meteor showers. Scared that I would discover her existence and come to finish her off, she decided to use those imprints for something else".

The more Bruce listened, the uglier his face became.

"With her telepathy, she was able to find out the nature of my existence on this Earth and the fact that I wasn't "warmly" welcomed by its protectors. So by subtly controlling your subconscious thoughts, she guided you into making troubles for me, posing as a distraction to buy her time until she recovered from her injuries".

"By escalating the conflicts, she could push both sides into war. If your Justice league managed to destroy me, then she could slowly brainwash all of you after a period of time with none being the wiser and take over earth. You the Justice League, protectors of earth, would become nothing more than her pawns and would probably meet a miserable end after you have outlived your usefulness".

Amari narrated flatly like he was reading a detailed document. Not in the slightest paying attention to Batman's unsightly expression.

"And if it was the other way around, then by that time, she could safely recover and escape before I could find her".

Amari suddenly focused his gaze on Batman.

"By the way, you guys are usually mind controlled by villains all the time". His eyes shone with peculiar curiosity as he asked. "How many times would this make it".

"I don't believe you". Bruce said with a deep frown.

"Is that so?" Amari raised an eyebrow.

"For all I know, you could be deceiving me. Why should I trust what you say".

"You don't seem to understand, Bruce. Give me one good reason why I should care if you do"...

".."

"Where is she?" Bruce asked with a serious voice.

"Dead"

"What?"

"I repeat, dead. I killed her".

Amari looked at Batman's tensing fists and was a bit surprised. Was Batman disturbed that he had actually killed her?

Did he value his no kill policy so much that even the murder of an enemy would make him uncomfortable?

"You didn't have to".

"No, but I wanted to".

Silence.

"Why are you telling me all this". Bruce's eyes narrowed. The way he looked at Amari was a little more unkind.

"To let you know three things". Amari said as he raised his hand and extended the first finger.

"One, to let it sink into that skull of yours that everything that has happened tonight... Mind control or not, is all your fault".

Amari spoke with a plain tone.

"No matter how powerful Mericrozz is, she can't brainwash the minds of the entire league at once. Her telepathy, though powerful, hasn't reached that level. And changing the minds of some would only let the others know that something is wrong, hence the psychic imprint.

She controlled your thoughts by amplifying the ideas and emotions you already have. Meaning, everything you've done is still within your will, just amplified. Your paranoia was already outrageous to the point that a little push caused you to become arrogant, make errors in your judgements, underestimate your opponent and push your teammates into uncertain factors with little information all, so your inner control freak would be satiated. Something that the regular Bruce, no matter how paranoid he was, would never do. You want proof? Take it from your actions. You just said that you wouldn't treat Luthor the same way you treat me because I'm an alien and thereby more dangerous. That in itself is something Batman can never say. That's the whole point of your being, Bruce. When it comes to dealing with villains, you're uncompromising".

"Now the life status of Wonder Woman and the rest are unknown, while the others are currently in an awful state, confirming the words I said to you a few minutes ago. I didn't do anything, Bruce, you did".

Batman clenched his fists tightly.

Amari ignored it and continued.

"Two, I don't take kindly to threats and warnings. Especially any attempts on my life. The only reason your teammates are still alive is that they were under her subconscious control. I broke your League apart as a primary warning, if you decide to do this again, then I won't show Mercy".

Amari said with a cold voice. To be honest, be had other reasons for keeping the League alive. But he wouldn't say it right now.

"And three, do not even think you can control me. I have no interest in causing chaos, destruction, harm, or taking control of your planet. Those things are ambitions for the weak and jobless and are insignificant in my eyes. Whether you believe me or not, none of you within the League are my match. Not even Superman. If I wanted to, I could destroy you all and take over your primitive species, but then again..." Amari shrugged his shoulders.

"As long as you don't provoke me, then we'll get along just fine". His words finished and what was left was Batman, who was staring straight at him with an intense gaze.

"What do you want?" Bruce asked.

"None of your concern".

"Forgive me if I don't believe you. I doubt you're here for a vacation".

"You can always try to pull off what you just did tonight. The end results will be rather... Gruesome. Because in everything you said, you're correct about one thing".

Amari said as he looked Batman straight in the eye.

"I'm definitely not Superman". Bruce's vision immediately darkened.

Then the next moment, he found himself nailed on a cross like wood. His bat suit was gone and what was left was a muscular Bruce Wayne dressed in nothing but a pair of pants with a naked upper body.

"..... I'm something worse". Amari's voice sounded, followed by the appearance of his figure.

".... You..... What are you doing?" Bruce asked with a glare.

"Punishment of course". Amari said with a shrug.

"Your actions were under the influence of a telepath; hence my principles make me reluctant to kill you. That, however, doesn't mean I'll let you go Scot free".

Bruce was silent, his eyes narrowing, almost forming slits.

"Where am I? Which dimension did you bring me into?"

"Where? Oh, we haven't gone anywhere. We're still on the roof. But since you want to know where we are, then welcome to the Tsukyuomi space".

"Arghhh!" At that moment, Bruce suddenly groaned in pain. The feeling of something sharp penetrating his flesh stung deeply.

"In here, I control time and space".

A sword appeared in Amari's hand, which pierced straight into Batman's torso.

"Argh!"

"For the next seventy-two hours, you will experience this pain over and over again, while only a second has passed in the real world. Don't worry, though, it's just an illusion. All this pain doesn't affect your real body. Your mind however…"

Amari said as he indifferently pierced another sword through Batman's body.

"In many universes, it's said that the will of The Dark Knight is far stronger than even Hal Jordan".

Amari raised his head to look at Batman whose face was trembling in agony.

"For your sake, I really hope that's true".

"Arghhhhh!!!!"