Gotham Outskirts.
HQ.
Amari stood in front of Kara's pod with a pondering look on his face. His facial features often shifted between that and a questioning look with a raised eyebrow.
The holographic Red Queen looked at her master, who was doing nothing other than standing there in what seemed to be deep thought for the last seven minutes.
She had already scanned the Kryptonian specimen that had been delivered and was now undergoing a different process.
Unlike Batman's cramped Bat cave in the original work, the room they inhabited was rather large. Almost twice as spacious as the one used for government conferences.
Kara's naked body lay within a pod which constantly shone with yellow light, analyzing her genetic structure to the very last particle.
Strangely, apart from Amari, the Red Queen and Kara within the technological contraption, the only thing that could be seen in the spacious room was the spacecraft that had transported the future Super girl to earth.
The AI finally uttered words that broke the silent atmosphere.
"Is there anything you require assistance with, Master?"
"Huh? Oh no, what makes you think that?"
"Your expressions portray what I can only describe as you having difficulty in making a decision. Are you perhaps pondering what you will do with the kryptonian female?"
"No. That's not it".
"Thinking about calculated steps for your future plans then?"
"That's not it either".
"Then can you please enlighten me?"
"I can't decide on a name for this place".
Red Queen: ???????
Amari looked at the life-like puzzled expression on the face of the AI and was a little amused inwardly.
Nevertheless, he wasn't kidding.
This place that he had created with nothing but a thought and the expenditure of some energy, he truly didn't know what to call it.
"Your actions ever since your arrival on this planet have been rather bold, sir. Quite inconsistent with your low-key profile in the last month".
The plain sentence had a lot of truth to it. Apart from the military announcement stating that they had "cooperated" with him to destroy the invading spaceship, Amari hadn't made any public moves in a while.
His presence, or lack thereof, had given many people sleepless nights. The one on the top of that list was his new neighbor in Gotham city, Batman. But that was to be expected of the most paranoid man in the DC multiverse.
It was already surprising enough that Batman didn't make contact since the last time they met.
Neither did any members of the Justice League. No Flash, Martian, no one.
But when you think about it, they probably had bigger problems at the time.
Following in second place was the American government. The world council had given him the right to live on the planet.
However, there was no clause in their verbal agreement that stated where he would reside. Wherever he decided to base himself was his concern.... and the concern of the country he resided in.
So, placing himself near Gotham had caused the American government to grow restless. General Lane had placed satellite surveillance on his territory twenty-four hours a day.
Of course, they didn't dare to take it too far. There were no secret agents snooping around his base, neither were there any special tricks used against him.
This was probably due to the fact that such infiltrations had zero chances of actually succeeding and would only achieve the aim of pissing him off.
At least until they found a way to restrain the extraterrestrial, the government didn't dare to tear all face.
However, they were always on guard against him and whatever he had planned. His low-key profile could mean many things.... Or, it could mean nothing whatsoever.
Honestly speaking, they were worrying too much.
As long as they didn't cross his bottom line, Amari wouldn't bother with whatever they did.
They weren't stupid enough to test him. Although.... that didn't mean others weren't.
But hey, he didn't have anything better to do. Until today that is...
Amari turned his attention back to the sleeping kryptonian.
"Low profile, huh? If it's such a problem, then let's fix that". Amari said casually as he gave her a look.
The AI, understanding what her master was conveying, began to take action. Inside the containment pod, several little holes opened up on the inside revealing sharp pointed needles.
The needles all pushed forward from their concealment and penetrated into the kryptonians skin.
Blood immediately began to flow outward through the needles. Amari looked at the process with indifference.
Kara was valuable to him, or rather, her kryptonian DNA was. And this was the previous goal the energy sentient had set his eyes on.
If he didn't know she was coming, he would have kidnapped Superman from the exploding spaceship and let the whole world think he was dead.
Well..... only until he drained the latter of all further use.
Although not necessary, the DNA of a kryptonian was needed to carry out his next course of action. Needed to reduce the costs of energy, that is.
"Master, a special action is going on that I believe you will want to see".
The red Queen suddenly spoke mid-process, successfully drawing Amari's attention.
A holographic screen appeared to show a press conference.
"Another talk show concerning the actions of the Justice league again?" Amari asked with a raised eyebrow and immediately lost interest in his thoughts.
"No sir. This one is talking about you". Her apathetic voice replied and the holographic picture played.
It showed a broadcast, an evening talk show, with a woman and a man sitting next to one another in plush chairs. Amari vaguely recognized the man as a popular Pundit.
However, what caught his attention was the headlines.
[Gordon Godfrey Clears The Air on The Infamous Deviant: Threat Or Hero]
"Me?" Amari raised an eyebrow. This was something he had not expected.
Frankly speaking, at this point, he should have already begun to fade out of the public light.
The so-called announcement that the military released concerning their cooperation was just to make sure he didn't get angry at his credit being taken away.
In essence, there were no interviews, no exclusive reports, no statements, nothing. No one knew how Amari had destroyed the spaceship that had already left Earth's atmosphere.
As the military didn't know, they couldn't provide any details. The Justice league also couldn't release a statement on that subject. Amari, on the other hand, had never appeared in public to confirm the matter.
Without enough content to actually print out a story, the subject of the destruction of the invaders could only be written as an after note. Only enough to leave a mark in the minds of the citizens.
And more importantly, Gordon? Amari's eyes narrowed as he watched the screen play out.
".... An alien invasion attacked, and what happened? I'll tell you what, nothing. Not only did the Justice League fail to stop them from getting what they came for, they even left the planet. If their ship hadn't been blown to bits, the thousands of lives lost in Central City would have gone for nothing. That's the bitter truth folks, and the unfortunate souls of Central City have the Deviant, Amari to thank for that".
Gordon on the screen wore an olive green suit, his blonde hair was styled backwards as always.
"Amari? The alien that first appeared in Metropolis?"
The woman on the set placed a finger on her chin.
"Forgive me for asking, but are you truly the Gordon Godfrey we all know". She asked with a hint of doubt in her eyes.
Seeing this, he smiled and turned towards the camera.
"I know, I know what you're all thinking. Old Gordon's gone soft, but I assure you people at home, the reality is far from that. Unlike a certain group of masqueraders, this Deviant, Amari, actually came in through the front door". He said as he pointed forwards.
"Superman and the likes of the Justice League came in unannounced. But his existence was actually verified by the Government. Not only does he not parade about while wearing a mask, we've all seen what he looks like. We know who he is, and he knows who we are, that's how it should be, folks. That is the right way to integrate into society. True equality".
"His actions have shown that he, as an outsider, actually wants to cooperate with earth, on our terms".
Amari watched as the video continued to play, his expression grew more and more indifferent as the seconds passed by.
"So unlike the others, this alien, I Gordon Godfrey have no prejudice against. Unless he does something that can make me say otherwise…."
"Pause". Amari's cold and clear voice sounded out, bringing the talk show to a halt.
A chair had materialized behind him at some point, prompting him to lay his body on it.
His finger continuously tapped the armrest of the chair while staring at the paused holographic video without saying a word.
After a while, a small chuckle escaped his lips.
"Hehehe..... I just thought no one would be stupid enough. It seems like someone wants to prove me otherwise".
The chuckle held no warmth in it and even carried a hint of murderous intent.
"Testing me? What's your purpose?" He said to no one in particular.
"Master, do you mean...?"
"Yep. Someone's messing around where they shouldn't". Who was Gordon Godfrey? The Jonah John Jameson of the DC world. Such a person was doing what?
Speaking up for him?
When did they make acquaintances?
Why would he take such an action? From the goodness of his heart?
If Amari were a regular human, a sneer would have crept up his face at this moment.
"Do you know who it is, sir?" The Red Queen asked.
"Hehe. Apart from Luthor and the Light, who else could it be?" His earlier question was just for show. He already knew the Who, Why and What in this case.
Anyone with random DC knowledge would be able to pick up the clues. Gordon Godfrey was an associate of Darkside, but Amari and Darkside had never crossed paths.
So the latter had nothing to do with this. Luthor on the other hand.....
The bald egomaniac had just become president. His mind was probably spinning with several dark schemes.
And bringing Amari into the public spotlight was most likely just one of them.
"Should I just kill him?" Amari pondered on the question casually. He looked at the sleeping Supergirl who was being drained of blood for a while nonchalantly.
After a few moments of contemplating, he shook his head in refusal. The Red Queen looked at his pondering figure and tentatively asked.
"Do you intend to eliminate him?"
"Oh! Not just yet. Besides, where's the fun in that?" Amari's voice sounded as he continued to tap the armrest lightly.
"He hasn't done anything yet, and Lex still has some use to me". With a light shrug, he continued.
"Whatever he has planned, it doesn't matter. Besides, I'm a little bored, so let's leave him alive until then. A certain someone, on the other hand, I feel they've lived long enough". His words would bring a chill to whoever heard them.
The AI just nodded.
Amari's eyes flashed with a cold light. With his current strength and amount of energy, there were hardly any things he needed to worry about.
Lex Luthor wasn't one of them. So Amari ultimately concluded on letting him live for the meantime.
There were still some events that hadn't happened yet, and some of them held part of his plans. Or his tools for amusement.
Not to mention, after General Lane's future incident, the latter might just kill lex on his own.
All in all, it mattered little to him.
Thinking of this, his eyes changed to form the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern.
"So in the meantime, Let's go hunting for some stowaways".
And with that, his body blurred before disappearing in place.
The chair dematerialized out of existence, and the holographic AI also disappeared. All that was left was a sleeping Kryptonian who had turned into a blood donor.
.....
"A meteor crash?" Bruce listened to the Gotham radio reporting the news concerning the crash of another meteor near Gotham and his flat expression grew a little rigid.
The bat computer had already pulled up a live video footage of a reporter from the Gotham Daily flying towards the area of the crash site on a helicopter.