A peculiar Justice League eting scene slowly unfolded before Injustice Batman.
First of all, it was Oliver Queen presiding over the eting. He was responsible for steering the session's direction, presenting issues of broader scope—such as "Who takes responsibility for what," "Where to engage enemies specifically," and "How to handle the aftermath," among others.
Then serving as the eting's assistant was Clark. He was in charge of raising questions based on potential circumstances, such as: "How to pinpoint the spaceship's landing site after it enters the atmosphere," "What's the fastest way to evacuate the civilians at the landing area," "How to strategically set up traps quickly," and "In what order should the superheroes make their entrance," etc.
Next, Arthur acted as the second assistant, responsible for probing into smaller logistical details like "How to manage traffic during the event," "How to deploy vehicles," and "Where to station local police and fire units," and so on.
Finally, tasked with providing solutions and considering the feasibility of the plans were Lex and Hal. Lex proposed using satellites from the Luther Group to track the spaceship's position, setting explosive traps at the landing site to destroy the landing gear and prevent the ship from taking off again, sending pre-arranged text ssages to civilians to guide them to shelter, and implenting imdiate evacuation protocol once disaster strikes.
Additionally, Diana handled note-taking for the eting and raised issues focused on humanitarian concerns, like: "How should the text ssage be written to minimize public panic?" and "Should we disguise the entire operation as a drill to fully conceal its true purpose?"
Considering all these tasks were normally handled by Batman alone, it felt even more unusual.
It's not to say Green Arrow couldn't chair a eting, but tropolis wasn't his ho turf, nor was he a superhero equipped for cosmic-level warfare, and he had no ties to Krypton whatsoever. Having him lead this eting truly made no sense.
Nor was it that Clark's super-intellect couldn't be used to raise questions, but as usual, he thought that none of these questions mattered since all questions had a singular answer, which was—"Batman."
How to pinpoint the spaceship's landing spot? Batman would know.
How to evacuate civilians from the landing area swiftly? Batman would handle it.
How to set up the perfect traps at the landing site? Batman would figure it out.
What's the best approach for superheroes to engage the enemy? Batman has it covered.
Batman always has a solution.
And then there was Aquaman. Though Arthur could be sensitive and emotional at tis, overall, he was still a straightforward, rough-edged guy who rarely overthought things. Expecting him to plan for how civilians and police should be stationed during an alien invasion seed wishful at best.
He didn't even have much experience in this area. Even if he dared to make arrangents, who would dare to execute them?
Finally, we had Lex and Hal. That Lex could co up with solutions didn't surprise Batman at all. Lex Luther had always claid to be the smartest man on Earth, even a bit smarter than Batman.
Injustice Batman had long observed that this universe's Lex Luther held imnse control over tropolis. Coupled with his connections to the KGB, it wasn't surprising that he could co up with multiple contingency plans.
The real question was why Hal was suddenly on the planning and executing side of things. Even though Green Lantern energy was undeniably handy, in Injustice Batman's experience, Green Lantern wasn't exactly known for solving problems—he excelled at execution.
If we had to summarize his thought process, it would probably be: contemplate, fail to think of an answer, and then yell out, "Batman!"
So now the question arose—where was this universe's Batman?
Injustice Batman couldn't help but glance at that figure across the table. Ever since the eting began, he hadn't woken up.
Over three hours later, the eting finally concluded. Daylight had fully broken, and tropolis had entered its morning rush hour. After a solid biological clock-aligned nap, Bruce finally woke up.
"About ti you woke up," Diana remarked.
Diana wasn't wrong, Injustice Batman thought. If you didn't wake up soon, Zod would've already called it quits and gone ho.
Bruce stretched, let out a long breath, placed his arms on the table, and said, "You're all done discussing? Let take a look."
Diana handed over the eting notes. Bruce scanned them briefly and said after so thought, "Not enough people. I think we need to call in more help."
"I think so, too," Diana said as she waved goodbye to Hal, Arthur, and Lex, who were leaving to grab breakfast. She stood up as well, packing her things and adding, "There aren't many people here in tropolis. If we're calling for reinforcents, we'll need to reach out to Gotham. We've been waiting for you to wake up to handle that."
"Alright, leave it to ," Bruce said. "I'll ask in the group chat who's available. Pala should be free; she's not working these days."
Diana nodded before leaving to head downstairs for breakfast. Oliver, Clark, and Bruce stayed behind—Oliver was examining a map of tropolis, Clark was drafting evacuation text ssages, and Bruce was chatting in the group chat.
"Clark," Oliver called, "Let's move to that office over there. You can tell about Krypton's history."
"Alright," Clark nodded, carrying his laptop as he left with Oliver.
With the massive office now mostly empty, only Bruce and Injustice Batman remained. Bruce was engrossed in his chat, and when Injustice Batman glanced at his screen, there was hardly any useful content—just emojis.
"Ahem," Injustice Batman cleared his throat twice to remind Bruce of his presence.
"If your throat's dry, go drink so water," Bruce replied without looking up. "Don't expect to fetch it for you."
Injustice Batman was montarily speechless. Just as he was about to say sothing more, Hal returned with several breakfasts, carrying them with Green Lantern energy.
"I asked around," Bruce said, standing up to straighten the hem of his clothing. "Both Pala and Harley can co, and Barry probably can too. Waylon will co but later. Constantine and Zatanna are uncertain—they said they'd get back to later."
"Better than expected," Hal chuckled. "I thought they'd all be too busy recently."
"Barry can't bring anyone with his Divine Speed, so you might have to pick them up," Bruce glanced at his phone. "They could drive themselves, but it'd take multiple trips."
"I'll go pick them up," Hal offered. "I think we should set up a fixed teleportation portal between Gotham and tropolis for the duration of the incident, to ease mutual support."
"No problem. Where would you set it up? Wayne Manor?"
"Isn't your daughter at the Manor? Aren't you worried she'll sneak over?"
"Aisha is very well-behaved... Okay, fine, let's set it up at Wayne Tower instead," Bruce said, rubbing his eyes.
"Aren't your adopted sons around?" Hal asked again.
Bruce shook his head. "No, and even if they were, they wouldn't be much help. But Dick's girlfriend has a pretty formidable dad—I'll get Dick to ask her."
Hal went to prepare the teleportation portal while the others unpacked their breakfasts to eat. At this mont, Diana and Arthur returned as well.
"Should we call for help from heroes in other universes?" Bruce suddenly asked.
"Who would you call?" Diana questioned. "During the Battleworld mission, the Arena Portal is unusable. We can't leave, and they can't enter."
"Of course not through Battleworld; we'll take a detour," Bruce replied. "Heroes within our shared macro-world can co through the Dark Kingdom. Heroes from other macro-worlds are trickier but should still be reachable through alternative thods. I might need to consult the Professor."
"Did you ssage him? Or did you go to the High Tower directly?"
"I did ssage him, but I doubt he's seen it yet. I can call him after his class," Bruce said.
"I don't think it's necessary," Arthur comnted. "Bringing in heroes from another macro-world seems excessive—it gives the impression we're facing extinction or sothing."
"Extra precaution is never a bad idea," Diana noted. "But we definitely shouldn't get too many people involved, or it becos a risk. Just a decisive one would do."
Oliver poked his head in at this point. "Batman, I think it's ti we had a chat."
Injustice Batman still wanted to stay, as he was very curious about heroes from other macro-worlds. But when they arrived earlier, Oliver had already ntioned wanting to speak with him, so he nodded and left.
The two entered another office. Clark passed them on his way out, nodding at Oliver as he left.
After sitting down, Oliver smiled and started, "It seems like the situation in your universe is vastly different from ours."
Injustice Batman nodded. He couldn't deny that. Yet he didn't think it was his fault; after all, his experiences in Battleworld had shown him that most Justice Leagues across the multiverse were closer to the way his universe operated—this universe was the anomaly.
"What differences do you see?" Oliver asked.
"You're less of a superhero organization and more of a corporation," Injustice Batman said bluntly. "Duties and roles are clearly divided; everyone does their job."
"It's not like that for you?"
Injustice Batman shook his head. "I'm the leader of the Justice League, but I might be the only one who thinks so."
"Alright, I was just curious," Oliver said as he sat up straight. "But that's not why I wanted to talk. It's this: You're probably here on so kind of mission. It might not be mandatory, but completing it should yield so rewards."
Injustice Batman didn't deny it. He nodded.
"Right. I'm guessing the mission isn't about aiding aliens in invading Earth. It's either about helping tropolis or assisting the Justice League."
Batman nodded again, then shook his head. "The Superman in my universe might not see it that way."
"That's exactly what I wanted to bring up," Oliver said. "Lex sent a ssage saying the Superman from your universe is a big problem. He's taken over the world, but not in a way that's working out. You've also faced external invasions, so you ca here seeking solutions."
Oliver tapped the surface of the desk with his finger, then said, "If you're willing to help us, we'll help you in return."
"How do you want to help you?" Injustice Batman asked. "To deal with Zod or protect the civilians of tropolis?"
"Quite the opposite," Oliver said. "We don't need uncertainties in our plans—you need to be removed from the equation entirely. Ideally, we'd like you to stay in Gotham for a while and not interfere with our operations. And if you take your allies with you, even better."
Injustice Batman frowned deeply. He had already observed that this universe's Justice League relied far less on Batman, but this was starting to feel excessive.
Yet soon he realized this universe needed Batman even less than he had anticipated, because Oliver suddenly leaned in and whispered conspiratorially:
"Frankly, if you could take Bruce with you too, that would be a monuntal contribution to tropolis's peace in our universe."
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