Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4418 - 3506: The Study of Cats and Dogs (17)

A peculiar Justice League meeting scene slowly unfolded before Injustice Batman.

First of all, it was Oliver Queen presiding over the meeting. 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 meeting'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 messages to civilians to guide them to shelter, and implementing immediate evacuation protocol once disaster strikes.

Additionally, Diana handled note-taking for the meeting and raised issues focused on humanitarian concerns, like: "How should the text message 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 meeting, but Metropolis wasn't his home turf, nor was he a superhero equipped for cosmic-level warfare, and he had no ties to Krypton whatsoever. Having him lead this meeting 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 times, 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 seemed wishful at best.

He didn't even have much experience in this area. Even if he dared to make arrangements, who would dare to execute them?

Finally, we had Lex and Hal. That Lex could come up with solutions didn't surprise Batman at all. Lex Luther had always claimed 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 immense control over Metropolis. Coupled with his connections to the KGB, it wasn't surprising that he could come 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 meeting began, he hadn't woken up.

Over three hours later, the meeting finally concluded. Daylight had fully broken, and Metropolis had entered its morning rush hour. After a solid biological clock-aligned nap, Bruce finally woke up.

"About time 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 home.

Bruce stretched, let out a long breath, placed his arms on the table, and said, "You're all done discussing? Let me take a look."

Diana handed over the meeting notes. Bruce scanned them briefly and said after some 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 Metropolis. If we're calling for reinforcements, we'll need to reach out to Gotham. We've been waiting for you to wake up to handle that."

"Alright, leave it to me," Bruce said. "I'll ask in the group chat who's available. Pamela 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 Metropolis, Clark was drafting evacuation text messages, and Bruce was chatting in the group chat.

"Clark," Oliver called, "Let's move to that office over there. You can tell me about Krypton's history."

"Alright," Clark nodded, carrying his laptop as he left with Oliver.

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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 some water," Bruce replied without looking up. "Don't expect me to fetch it for you."

Injustice Batman was momentarily speechless. Just as he was about to say something 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 Pamela and Harley can come, and Barry probably can too. Waylon will come but later. Constantine and Zatanna are uncertain—they said they'd get back to me 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 Metropolis 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 moment, 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 come through the Dark Kingdom. Heroes from other macro-worlds are trickier but should still be reachable through alternative methods. I might need to consult the Professor."

"Did you message him? Or did you go to the High Tower directly?"

"I did message 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 commented. "Bringing in heroes from another macro-world seems excessive—it gives the impression we're facing extinction or something."

"Extra precaution is never a bad idea," Diana noted. "But we definitely shouldn't get too many people involved, or it becomes a risk. Just a decisive one would do."

Oliver poked his head in at this point. "Batman, I think it's time 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 mentioned 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 some kind of mission. It might not be mandatory, but completing it should yield some 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 Metropolis 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 me a message 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 came 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 me to help you?" Injustice Batman asked. "To deal with Zod or protect the civilians of Metropolis?"

"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 monumental contribution to Metropolis's peace in our universe."