American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

Late Night, The Batcave.

Old Bruce Wayne, having removed his Bat-Suit, pushed open the conference room doors. His aged face was filled with exhaustion.

As soon as he entered, the room fell silent. Everyone instinctively turned their gaze toward the entrance.

"Bruce, how's Tim?" Hourman was the first to stand up, asking with concern.

As the leader of the Justice Society, Hourman might not have been the strongest hero present, but aside from Batman and The Flash, he was one of the most experienced.

He was also highly respected—his character, strategic mind, and sense of the bigger picture made him the ideal leader of the Justice Society.

He had met Red Robin a few times and even worked with him on missions. Hourman held Tim in high regard, knowing that he was a promising young hero with the potential for greatness.

Now that Red Robin was severely wounded, even though he wasn't a member of the Justice Society, it was still a heavy blow to all the superheroes.

"He survived. As for when he'll wake up, that depends on his own willpower," Old Bruce Wayne said calmly, his tone revealing no emotion.

He had assigned Stephanie and Tula to take care of Tim. The two young women had cried multiple times in private after seeing his grievous injuries.

Bruce himself was not in a good mood either, but he knew he couldn't let it show. The invaders had already initiated their war—his judgment could not afford to be clouded by emotion.

"Steppenwolf didn't come with good intentions. I assume Queen Hippolyta has already filled you in on the details," Bruce continued.

"Yes. If our enemies truly are what she described, then we must be even more cautious," Hourman said, his expression filled with worry.

The biggest challenge they had faced before was dealing with the Intergang. But this was different—this time, they were facing the New Gods of the Apokolips, an almost invincible force.

Back in ancient times, not only did the entire world unite against them, but even the gods themselves put aside their differences and joined the battle. Despite that, they had only barely managed to drive the enemy away—at a great cost.

Now, times had changed. The gods were long gone. Even the Amazons and Atlanteans had retreated into seclusion. Earth was fragmented, lacking any unified force to stand against such a threat.

"Steppenwolf is merely the vanguard. If we can't even handle him, we won't have to wait for Darkseid's arrival—Earth will already be doomed," Hippolyta stated grimly.

"Black Adam, Shazam—if you two fought Steppenwolf, how confident would you be in winning?" Wildcat suddenly turned to the two powerhouses.

Shazam's true identity was still a secret within the Justice Society. Aside from Batman, no one knew that he was actually a thirteen-year-old boy named Billy.

"As long as he doesn't have his weapon, I shouldn't lose to him. But the problem is, he won't be fighting alone," Black Adam replied, glancing at the silent Shazam.

"True. We all saw the battle earlier—those creatures called 'Parademons' aren't simple opponents. They feel no fear. In fact, they feed on it. And we don't even know how many of them there are."

At this, Hourman turned to Bruce. "Bruce, can you reach out to Congress? If we had military support, we could prepare in advance. Even if we can't win, we could at least stop Steppenwolf from taking the Mother Box."

"Impossible. After everything that's happened, our relationship with them is beyond repair. If it weren't for public pressure, they probably would have torn down the Justice Society's headquarters by now."

Bruce was referring to the events surrounding the rebranding of the Justice Society of America and his sabotage of Task Force X's formation.

He had cost certain people in the military and government a lot of power and influence. They despised him and the other heroes. Gaining their support was nearly impossible.

But Bruce had no regrets. If he hadn't taken decisive action to consolidate control over the Justice Society and eliminate hidden threats, they would be in even more chaos now with Steppenwolf's invasion.

"This isn't the time for personal grudges. If Steppenwolf gets the Mother Box, the entire world—possibly other worlds—will be at risk," Hourman argued.

"You're not wrong, but the problem is—will they believe us?" Doctor Fate Kent crossed his arms and said flatly, "I've dealt with those people before. You can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep."

"Then what do we do? Facing an unknown army with just us… isn't that a bit too ambitious?" Wildcat frowned.

He wasn't afraid of war. He was afraid of losing.

Their enemies were more terrifying than they had imagined. The safety of everyone on Earth now rested on their shoulders. If they failed, everything would be lost.

Wildcat's words cast a heavy silence over the room. Everyone furrowed their brows, lost in thought.

Although they had forced Steppenwolf to retreat earlier, they all knew it wasn't because he feared them. He was simply biding his time, ensuring that his next attack would be an overwhelming victory.

The next time they faced him, his assault would be far more brutal.

Just as the atmosphere in the conference room turned icy, Old Bruce Wayne broke the silence. He slowly stood up, looked around the room, and said: "It's just an alien. I've dealt with stronger invaders before. What? You all forget how to fight just because we have a new enemy?"

At Batman's words, everyone instinctively lifted their heads, a faint glimmer appearing in their eyes. Warmth spread through their chests.

He was right.

General Zod had caused just as much destruction back then, but so what? Batman, along with The Flash and an alien woman, had still defeated him and his entire army.

In terms of raw combat ability, Kryptonians were far more powerful than Parademons. And when it came to high-level threats, General Zod could have torn Steppenwolf apart.

If they had managed to stop someone as terrifying as Zod, then why should they fear Steppenwolf?

New Gods? Gods could bleed, too.

"You have a plan?" Hourman smirked, looking at Bruce excitedly.

Batman met his gaze but didn't respond immediately. Instead, he walked to the center of the conference room and spoke slowly.

"Steppenwolf may not be as powerful as Zod, but he's far more cunning. His goal is simple—to take the Mother Box and unleash the Unity, reshaping the world from its foundation.

It's essentially the same as the World Engine.

Zod failed because of his arrogance and his underestimation of humanity. He never imagined that we had already discovered his weaknesses. That's why he died.

And Steppenwolf? He's made his own mistake."

"What mistake?" Doctor Mid-Nite asked.

Old Bruce Wayne pressed both hands against the table and continued.

"Unlike General Zod, who feared nothing, Steppenwolf is well aware of Darkseid's past defeat on Earth. That's why he started off being extremely cautious, carefully planning every move in battle.

But he still underestimated the current state of Earth. Maybe because his first two attempts at seizing the Mother Boxes went so smoothly, he gradually let his guard down.

When he went after the Mother Box guarded by humans, he used the same approach as before—tactics that worked on Themyscira and Atlantis.

What he failed to realize is that the human world is vastly different from Themyscira and Atlantis. So, his strike missed the right target, and that gave us a chance to adapt and counterattack."

Everyone listened to Batman's analysis and couldn't help but nod. Thinking about it, he was absolutely right.

Themyscira and Atlantis may have stronger individual warriors than humanity, but who would have expected that among humans, there are those who wield extraordinary and unimaginable powers?

Doctor Fate, the agent of the god Nabu.

Black Adam, the heir to the Egyptian gods.

Shazam, the champion of the Olympian gods.

Green Lantern, a warrior of the Green Lantern Corps.

Hawkman, the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince.

The Flash, a master of the Speed Force.

Any one of them alone is a formidable force. And now, they all stand as Earth's defenders. Even Steppenwolf has to tread carefully when facing them.

"Bruce, just tell us what to do next," Wildcat cracked his knuckles, grinning fiercely. "I'm all in."

"Don't rush," Old Bruce Wayne said. "In the coming days, Steppenwolf will definitely investigate each of us in secret, trying to find our weaknesses—whether it's a flaw, a personal vulnerability, or even our families. We're in the open, and he's in the shadows. If this turns into a speed contest, we won't win."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and tapped on the box containing the Mother Box on the conference table before continuing.

"So, we need to take a different approach. Steppenwolf wants the Mother Box? Then let's use it against him. We forced him to retreat once—there's no reason we can't lure him out and make him show himself."

The heroes exchanged glances, all agreeing with Batman's reasoning. If Steppenwolf was given enough time to dig into their identities, their families and friends would be in grave danger.

That was a situation none of them wanted.

"Hourman, I need you to spread the word—let it be known that, after careful deliberation, the Justice Society has decided to destroy the Mother Box," Old Bruce Wayne said.

"Destroy it!?" Hippolyta gasped in shock. "Can we even do that? Even the gods themselves couldn't destroy a Mother Box back in the day!"

At her words, Old Bruce Wayne simply smiled.

"Who said destruction only has one method? We could have The Flash throw the box to the end of time."

.....

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