LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 12.1
Kara watched as Batman approached Roy’s cryo pod with sure steps, her x-ray vision going over his body on instinct. He was actually already wearing a lead mask, plus his utility belt had several lead pouches, but his armor was mostly made from different materials.
She could also see he had a recently broken rib and a cracked bone in his leg, she was impressed, the guy wasn’t even limping. “Wow, did you make a lead mask in just 15 minutes?”
“I had it prepared as soon as I found out someone managed to clone Superman.” He grunted back and stopped in front of the pod.
For quite a few minutes he just stared at the boy frozen inside without moving a muscle, even his breath was calm making Kara think he was doing some kind of mental exercise to keep his anger in check. Finally, he asked. “How long until it’s safe to release him?”
“It’ll take a day or two, but I was planning on moving the pod to a safer place before I started,” she told him and handed the man the tablet with Roy’s medical information. “I’ll also be moving Match’s pod before releasing him.”
“The second clone?” Batman asked, but it didn’t wait for her answer. “Good, we’re gonna have to call Green Arrow and hunt down the copy soon.”
“About that…” Kara started to talk, but almost swallowed her tongue when Batman’s burning gaze turned her way. Damn, the man was intimidating, and he didn’t even turn his head. “The current Roy has no idea he’s working for your enemies.”
“That is obvious,” the Bat said and turned his gaze back to Roy. “As much as the League messed up here, the boy couldn’t fool us for two years if he was aware of what he was doing, is it drugs or telepathy?”
“The later,” hmm, it seems Batman could be sharp when he was focused on things.
“You know who’s responsible?”
“Beside’s Luthor you mean? I have some idea,” Kara put the few mentions of The Light she had managed to find in Luthor’s private server and showed them to the Caped Crusader. “I have a few suspicions about who the members are, but it will take some time to confirm them.”
“I’ll start looking into it,” Batman told her as he turned his eyes back towards the pod, almost as if he was unable to turn away from it for too long.
Kara knew she really should tell him about her knowledge of the YJ show but… she couldn’t do it. No, she didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to tell anybody how much she knew about things, about the world and the monsters hiding in it.
She liked keeping it a secret, that way she would have an advantage against anyone she faced. Rao, Batman himself had counters to the entire League hidden away, she could have her little secret too.
It was another advantage keeping her from ever getting used or captured by anyone else again and she really didn’t like letting go of those. Plus she could still tell him their identities in a few days, after she had time to think about things, then she could justify her knowledge by claiming she had investigated it or something.
Shaking her head she decided to change gears. “How did you guys miss this, the slaves, the secret rooms?”
“We were tired and they played us,” the Bat confessed, his voice becoming even harsher as his free hand closed into a fist. “Fighting Wotan had been challenging and Luthor worked quickly, his political power meant we only had a limited amount of time to search the facility before turning the case over to the authorities. Only Superman and Flash could have found this place in so little time and they probably had countermeasures specifically made to counter them.
“When we didn’t find anything dangerous inside the facility, we trusted the legal authorities to deal with everything else, including the Genomorphs. We failed here, all of us.”
“And the Green Lanterns?”
“In order for the UN to accept the League, the Green Lanterns had to work under several restrictions, they can’t use it to break into private or government data banks unless there’s a life at risk, the situation here was already resolved by the time we arrived.”
“The countries were afraid you’d find all their dirty little secrets?” Kara asked.
“Yes.”
“You know, you guys are called the Justice League but, are you really fighting for justice or just the law?”
As they quietly observed things A G-Troll approached them and actually lifted Roy’s pod with a single hand, then connected it to a portable cart with its own energy source, making sure everything was in order.
“The League has to change,” Kara continued as Batman didn’t give her an answer, her voice hard as she made the ultimatum. “I’m not an expert and I don’t have your experience so I can’t tell you how to do it, but it HAS to change, you can’t drop the ball like this again.”
“Yes,” was Batman’s single word answer.
“That’s it, that’s all you’re gonna say?” she threw her arms up and started walking away from the man.
“We fight for what is right, Kara Zor-El,” Batman finally said. “We fight so no child has to see their parents die in front of their eyes again, so an evil man can’t take a kid and force her to fight until her own power kills her and, sometimes, that means following the law. I want nothing more than to arrest Luthor right now, but what do you think is gonna happen if I do so?
“I could capture him, I could gather all the information on his computers, I could spread all the terrible things he had done to every corner of this world and he would still not stay in jail a single day because I didn’t follow the law,” the frustration on the Bat’s voice was clear for anyone to hear, Kara didn’t even need her super hearing. “But you’re right, the League has to change, we are making too many mistakes, our enemies adapted and we did not.”
Kara just stared at the man for a few seconds, finally, she sighed. “I still feel like punching you.”
“Do you still need any help with the Genomorph situation?” he asked, ignoring her latest sentence and looking at Dubbilex. “I noticed no human bothered with me coming down here.”
“A lawyer for when they inevitably have to come out in the open would be nice.”
“I’ll get it ready,” he watched as the G-Troll started wheeling the pods towards the elevators, then turned back to her with a considerate look. “I can see you have a plan, tell me about it.”
So she told him, she spoke as they went up to the surface without interference, or even the notice of any worker, then up into the Batplane and right back towards Gotham City.
“What you’re proposing will be risky, even for a Kryptonian, you’ll be going against enemies that could give even your cousin a fair fight,” he commented when she finished and Kara snorted.
“I’m not asking for permission, even if Roy and Green Arrow don’t agree I’ll still do it, it will just be harder,” she answered as she thought about things. “I’m also not going to do this alone.”
“They’ll agree. I’ll just have to keep them away from Luthor until they regain their senses and they’ll agree,” Batman lowered the Batplane inside the cave and opened the hangar door. “Who are you thinking of recruiting, your friend?”
“She was really excited about teaming up with the sidekicks, plus she isn’t really the most discreet girl,” Kara said and sighed. “Not that I am a master spy or anything like that, but I can remain hidden when needed, Kori is a warrior at heart.”
“I have a few ideas about that,” the Bat told her and took a few seconds to send her a message with an address, “If you want to investigate The Light go there, they’ll help you.”
Kara didn’t recognize the address, but a quick search showed it was just a large house beside a cemetery in New York City and owned by someone called Cain. Settling the Plane down, Kara saw there were already people waiting for them with medical equipment.
Beside Alfred, there was also an old, white haired woman waiting for them inside the cave, she had an incredibly annoyed expression on her face and barely lifted an eyebrow as Kara floated out of the plane holding both pods above her head.
“Leslie Thompkins, my trusted physician,” Batman explained as he started walking inside the cave.
The woman’s frown deepened and she tried to his Batman’s head with a cane. “What did I say about leaving with those wounds?”
“Don’t.”
“Exactly! So why did Alfred just wake me up asking for my help!” Kara almost snickered as she watched the old lady berate Batman. “Now, let me see what I have to work with.”
Kara carefully deposited Roy’s pod beside the woman and made sure to send all the information about his state to the Batcave’s reserve servers which Batman had given her access to. They were completely isolated from the main servers even by her equipment, so he probably felt safer that way.
“Do you have a Zeta-Tube in the cave?” Kara asked.
“Yes, I’ll give you temporary permission to activate it before calling Green Arrow.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Green Arrow will probably need some time to process this, I’ll inform you when we’re ready,” With a nod, the Bat just left her there and continued walking inside the cave until he was outside of her usual vision.
Kara turned away and started looking for the Zeta-tube, but she still heard his steps becoming uneven as he started limping outside her view. Finally, his steps stopped and she heard him punch the wall, then lay his back against it and release a deep sigh, filled with frustration.
Trying to ignore it, she finally found the Zeta-Tube and activated it, leaving the cave until Batman called her back.