"Sir, I remember this. Isn't this the city that mysteriously appeared a few miles outside Gotham?"
"Oh! Have you been paying more attention to the news, Alfred?"
"Do not mock me, sir". The old butler complained.
"But why are you paying so much attention? I remember that seven out of ten times when I entered the Bat cave, the Batcomputer was monitoring that same location".
"Because whatever Luthor is planning, I feel nine out of ten times that it has something to do with him". Bruce replied.
"Plus, the subject in question is a very dangerous existence that possibly poses a big threat to the planet. So proper monitoring is a necessity".
Bruce responded. His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the footage of Amari's Tower.
Honestly, the fact that he didn't know anything that was going on there irked him to no end. And there was nothing he could do to change that.
He should know, after all because he tried everything. Hacking with the Bat computer.... No success. He even had to change the entire computer because the whole thing got fried when he did.
Sneaking in? No possible success on that end either. He didn't try it himself, simply because he couldn't find any blind spots to sneak in through.
Plus, Bruce had that gut feeling inside of him that he would be discovered the moment he approached a certain range. He could have asked Martian Manhunter to give it a try, but the whole thing was too risky.
There was just too little information on the target and his HQ as a whole. Bruce wouldn't even know where to begin looking, assuming he managed to get inside.
Clark was currently unconscious, or he would have asked him to perform an X-ray scan and draw out the schematics for him.
Thinking of all this, his teeth itched, causing him to gnash them. Concerning Amari, he had so many questions digging into the depths of his mind that he wanted answers to.
"I believe he is also the savior of Mr. Kent's life, according to what I saw on TV". Alfred chimed in.
"Yes, and he almost killed him too". Bruce retorted with a bit of a frosty tone.
The World Government had practically announced that Amari and the military had worked together to destroy the Spaceship. How they managed to do it was currently beyond Batman's knowledge, as he couldn't easily access government secrets like he used to anymore.
If it were someone else, he might be skeptical, but Amari couldn't be judged with common sense. So the fact that the spaceship was destroyed was his credit until someone proved him otherwise.
But that wasn't the point. The point laid in the fact that Superman was blown up alongside the rest of the ship too.
With the state Clark was in when he was captured, Bruce already expected the worst when the watchtower recorded the explosion.
This was what made him gloomy.
Bruce wasn't sure if he knew Clark would survive, or he just wasn't concerned about Superman's life and death.
But there was no way he didn't know that Superman was captured.
So basically, live if you can and if you can't... Thinking of Amari's personality, Bruce settled for the latter option.
"..... Oh! Well, you can spare me the details, Master Bruce because Mr. Kent certainly isn't dead yet". Alfred stated flatly. Bruce raised an eyebrow.
Whose side was this butler on?
"I wasn't going to". Bruce continued to work on he Bat computer.
"If there is one good thing that came out of all of this, it's that the explosion scared away the coming wave of attacks".
Alfred's eyebrows furrowed.
"Were you expecting more invaders' sir?"
"Yes, a lot more". He replied candidly.
"The lanterns informed me that several hostiles had entered our space sector. But judging from the fact that we haven't had any new visitors, then our assumptions that they were scared away by the explosion of the Spaceship can be confirmed".
Bruce put both hands together under his chin.
"Either that, or they decided to leave because the object of their visit no longer exists".
Lobo was taken away by the invaders and their transportation was destroyed. Judging from the state Lobo was in when he was taken away, he probably died in it.
How the extraterrestrials were able to locate the Czarnian was unknown, but since earth didn't have their target, then they wouldn't bother with their primitive planet.
Thankfully.
"Are you planning on confronting him, sir?"
"No. Currently, the league is stretched too thin. We've experienced too much in too little time, and we need to recuperate for a while".
Bruce's thoughts were clear on priorities. The league as it was now wasn't ready to confront Amari.
One of their heaviest guns was in a coma. Even after he woke up, Clark would have a lot of things to sort out in his daily life.
Martian Manhunter had gone back to Mars. The matter of Mericrozz was weighing on him, and the league held no objections.
Hal had retreated to report back to Oa Star. The attack earth had experienced was on the same level as general Zod, as one of its resident Lanterns, Hal, needed to investigate.
Zatara on the other hand was away investigating a magical disturbance that had occurred two months ago. Since it pertained to the magic part of the world, the league would not involve themselves unless Giovanni asked for help.
Furthermore, Doctor Fate had gone missing. When facing Amari, he was one of Batman's Trump cards should things ever get messy.
However, the rest of the Justice league was either aiding in Central City or just weren't available.
Superheroes were people too. They still had lives, and the league couldn't prevent them from living it.
"The Black Ops squad have been rather idle lately. I think it's time we make some arrangements for them. Locating Doctor Fate should be a doable task".
"Master Bruce, you have a charity event you really should be preparing for. I've asked Young Master Grayson to…."
"Ugh!!" Bruce, whose thinking process was interrupted, let out a loud groan.
Another Event?
"I have too many things to do, Alfred. Just cancel".
"You've cancelled all your itinerary in the past month. I remind you that your other persona still needs to appear in public if you want to continue to parade as The Dark Knight unnoticed..... My Lord, Bruce put that down immediately". Alfred yelled as he saw Bruce reach into one of the small drawers beside his Bat computer and pull out caffeine tablets, break them down, and add the dust to his coffee.
....
After the bat managed to send the grumpy butler back up to the mansion and stop the latter from pestering him about his health, Bruce continued to look at the Bat computer.
His gaze locked on that tower outside Gotham was rather grave.
After a while of staring, he immediately began to set his plans.
Through consecutive incidents, Bruce had discovered that the League's response time was practically insufficient.
If the rest of the league could appear in Central City in at most one minute after they received the alert, numerous things could have gone down differently.
This was a problem that needed to be solved at all costs.
The public slander from the masses would have to be soothed with a League statement. The lack of manpower on the side of the Justice League couldn't be solved in a short time.
He also had some ideas concerning the Junior team. Their matters had been exposed to the United Nations, so should they continue their previous duties?
Maybe they should disband and reform. Create a small team of their own where they could fight to protect the world. They couldn't join the Justice league just yet, but they could become create a team for their age group.
Perhaps a Young Justice league or a Teen Titans or something.
He'd speak to Dick about it when he had time.
As for the black hands moving behind the scenes, Bruce would continue to investigate. All so the world could hope for a better tomorrow, Bruce would prepare to defend against the worst.
Meanwhile.
Above the Wayne Manor.
Scene Change, Gotham City
Several blimps flew in the sky, each monitoring a few blocks and carried two logos on them.
Lexcorp and GCPD.
"... Hello folks, this is Gotham Radio. Tonight we're gonna be talking about the new fleet of Gotham's automated surveillance blimps which took flight earlier this week".
"Produced by Lexcorp industries and verified by the new President of the United States Lex Luthor, are these unmanned eyes in the sky, a black eye on people's privacy?"
"Well, that's what civil liberty groups are saying. What about you? And before we open the lines and accept your calls, here's headline news. Nikki..." The male voice called out to his Co host.
"Well Jay, blimps aren't the only things we've been seeing these past few nights. A rash of meteor showers has lit up the skies from coast to coast this week. Following the Central City invasion incident, authorities reported that these meteor showers are the remnants of the destroyed Alien spaceship that invaded Earth's atmosphere. Luckily, the casualties were reduced to a minimum as the majority of these meteors crashed in non-populated areas, sea areas or were timely handled by Justice league members".
"As for the online movements and public discussions against the Justice league for causing the Central City disaster, the press is still waiting for the League to give a formal reply. Apart from the Superheroes seen active in search and rescue operations, some Justice league members haven't been seen since the day of the invasion and have entered seclusion away from the public eye".
"Members such as the Man Of Steel from Metropolis, Wonder Woman, and our very own Dark Knight Batman haven't been seen in the past two weeks and more. In other related news…." The voice slowly faded out as numerous people continued to listen to the Gotham city radio station.
But unknown to the Gotham populace
A burning meteor streak descended from the sky into Earth's atmosphere.
From afar, it looked like a flaming fireball coming to deliver divine judgement. It's destination, Gotham City.
However, the air surrounding the meteor that was descending at rapid speeds suddenly began to swirl. The change in weather phenomenon around it didn't last long.
Only for three seconds. Despite that, the course of its crash site had been altered as it steered away from Gotham city, headed towards the outskirts.
Less than a minute later, it crashed into a giant lake, causing a massive wave to erupt.
"From what we can tell, folks, something just crashed right on the outskirts of Gotham city. Sources tell us that it's another meteor".
The water wave washed out of the lake, flooding the surrounding area. Luckily, there was nothing but grass and rock in the surroundings.
The water was disturbed, leading to countless waves. Until a while later, the chaotic lake finally eased.
Splash!
A figure suddenly appeared on the edge of the lake, gasping for air. Who it was, was unknown, and the features couldn't be seen in the dark night.
The figure stood up and strolled away from the body of water. Sporting a head full of long yellow hair and the body covered with a red, long robe with a special S symbol in the center.
The cloth slid off, exposing what could only be described as a marvelous sight for any man to see. The curvy body, generous assets and feminine figure clearly indicated the sex of the person in question.
"Ugh!" Kara let out a groan as her hazy vision became clearer. The first thing she did was to examine her surroundings while gathering her thoughts.
She opened her mouth and muttered a few words, yet anyone who could hear her wouldn't be able to understand them.
"I... What happened? Where am I?" Kara asked herself in Kryptonian. Her hands were on her head as she surveyed the area.
What she saw gave her a little surprise.
She looked around only to discover that she had landed in what looked like a city. A rather technologically advanced city with well designed architectural structures. However, the whole area was completely foreign to her.
"Done sightseeing?" A clear voice said from behind her, startling the young kryptonian. Kara turned around in panic and what came in view was a strangely dressed male figure.
Black hair, purple eyes, wearing clothing she had never seen before. And what shocked her was his words. Judging from what she heard, the man opposite her wasn't speaking kryptonian, but she could strangely understand what he was saying to her.
"Umm, hello. My name is Kara Zor-el. Would you be kind enough to inform me what star sector this planet belongs to". She asked hopefully in the Krypton Language.
However..... "No". Amari said with a flat face.
His eyes scanned the naked figure of one of the last two survivors of the planet Krypton.
A normal person would just see a naked girl standing on the grass. A pervert would be seeing a wet dream. Amari's eyes saw something else.
The body structure, cell composition and core nucleus of the female in front of him was undergoing tremendous changes while doing nothing but just standing there.
Even when there was no sunlight.
"No?" Kara frowned tightly, especially when feeling the unscrupulous gaze of the latter that seemed to be able to see through her.
According to the calculations of her parents, she was supposed to land in a primitive solar system. According to the general knowledge she knew, the inhabitants of this planet should be in a backward era.
Was it possible that the later couldn't understand what she said?
"Oh I can understand you. Don't worry about where you are. Some people will fill you in on that soon enough. But for now....."
His eyes suddenly glowed, and his pupils developed complex patterns. Looking into those... beautiful pair of eyes, Kara was a little dazed. This was the first time she had seen the eyes of a living person transform like that.
"Just take a nap". Suddenly, an intense feeling of drowsiness assaulted her. Kara stumbled from side to side as her head spun with dizziness before plopping to the floor.
The last thing her brain could register was the feeling of two firm, strong arms lifting her naked body from the ground. Subsequently, everything went dark.