The situation hit the entire team hard, especially Superman, who shook his head and said, "No, there has to be sothing." However, Batman reaffird, "It's more of a dead end than the La Maz incident. We didn't even know what was going on that island in Markovia."
"If you're looking for any extra information, that ans the only one who has it is Arias," Batman reviewed this. Robin couldn't help but speak up, "In other words, he could be responsible. You said it yourself, the explosion matches exactly with the attack Markovia claims it launched on the US."
Robin's point was the one that most of the Junior Justice League team supported because it was the easiest conclusion to reach. But while Batman and Superman understood their perspective, they couldn't ignore the complexities involved.
"You have to be very, very crafty, and it wouldn't make sense for him to lead Kara to the island in the first place if he was trying to hide sothing," Batman reasoned. Although this didn't remove Arias from the suspect list, Batman just couldn't bring himself to settle on Arias being responsible.
"They may match, but too much evidence is missing for us to truly know," Batman reasoned with logic. He knew that if he chose to be emotional yet again, Arias would truly get the better of him. Superman knew this more than anyone else. Despite being the most angry over the situation, he didn't agree with Robin's point.
"Batman's right. If Markovia really has such a powerful weapon, then too many things don't add up. We need to look at the bigger picture. If we get this wrong, then it could an even more lives lost further down the line. So for now, we are to assu Arias and Markovia are innocent until proven guilty," Superman stated firmly.
Robin and the rest of the Junior Justice team couldn't help but feel that the senior mbers were making a mistake. They understood the importance of making a logical approach, but they felt Arias was getting his way over and over again. Slade was making incredible strides in his presidential campaign, Leviathan was a juggernaut gacorporation, and Markovia had suddenly slingshot itself into becoming a top military power. All this was accomplished in less than a year. It felt ridiculous to think about, but not a single mber of the Junior Justice League team felt that this was a coincidence.
Batman and the rest of the senior team knew this quite clearly. In fact, so did other governnts. Arias had risen to power far too quickly and under far too many controversial circumstances. To say he was completely innocent would be a lie, but the fact of the matter was there was no single piece of hard evidence that would land him any jail ti. There were plenty of cases they could throw at him, but with the amount of money Arias had, these cases would be easily dismissed in the sa way other billionaires would do so.
So, although they were stating Arias was innocent until proven guilty, they were simply declaring they couldn't touch him, restricted by the very laws they operated under. For Batman, this was a first. For Superman, who had long since been dealing with Lex Luthor, this was new, though it had never been on such a large scale.
Robin eventually settled into his seat and crossed his arms, looking incredibly dissatisfied with the decision they had reached but no longer protesting. Batman only gave him a montary glance before continuing, "As it stands, far too much is going on for the League to operate to its fullest. Our attention needs to be focused on this and the Lamaze case. But as we do this, the Junior team will be split into pairs and assigned cities to look over."
As Batman said this, the mbers of the Junior team, especially Miss Martian, looked to be excited as she sat upright, prompting the others to do the sa as they glanced at one another.
However, Batman made sure to be clear, "Overlook the city, not to operate within. You are to be on a standby basis only."
Before Batman could continue speaking, a buzz interrupted him. He paused before saying, "Excuse ," and stood up from his seat. He brought his hand toward his mask and tapped one of the pointy ears as he said, "Hello."
"Good evening, Bruce," Arias's voice resounded from the other side. This imdiately caused Superman, who could hear with his super hearing, to stand up, his hands pressed against the table hard. Batman, however, maintained a casual expression and only turned to face Superman, eting his gaze. Superman then sighed and sat back down. Batman proceeded to leave the room.
Black Canary, who had been quiet like many of the other senior mbers, tilted her head and asked, "Was it him?" However, Superman didn't answer and maintained his posture, looking generally saddened.
As Batman walked out of the eting room, he asked plainly and bluntly, "What do you want?"
A chuckle resonated from the other side of the call. "No need to be so hostile, Bruce. I'm simply calling since now we both want the sa thing," Arias replied.
"Which is?" Batman asked.
"To rid the Earth of the Apokoliptian presence."
Hearing Arias say this, Batman was more than sure Arias knew more than he was letting on. So he asked, "What do you know?"
However, Arias responded with, "Tsk tsk. You don't expect to share the information that I so painstakingly acquired for free now, would you? I may not look like it, Bruce, but I too have lost a lot in this war that the world seems oblivious to."
Batman knew he wasn't in a position to bargain, but seeing Arias be so vague greatly irritated him. With no better lead to go on, he couldn't refuse. "What's your price?"
"Sothing more valuable than money, Bruce," Arias imdiately answered.
"Which is?"
"A temporary alliance."
Batman went silent upon hearing what Arias wanted. He wasn't surprised but rather wondered why Arias would want a temporary alliance and what he stood to gain from it. However, Batman couldn't co up with any definitive reasons on the spot, so he simply asked, "What's your angle here?"
Arias chuckled, "It wouldn't be an angle if I told you what it was now, would it? Don't misunderstand, I will obviously have a lot to gain from this temporary alliance I am suggesting, but so will you."
"And what is it that I would gain from this?" Batman asked.
"Justice for your fallen comrades, of course. I would say it's a more than fair trade. But if you're not interested, we can pretend this conversation never happened."
The dian thought when soone spoke like this was that they were bluffing. But with Arias, there was no telling if it was fact or simply an act; he was simply that hard to read because he was so unpredictable. However, Batman didn't need to think long. The simple fact of the matter was the League had no leads and they were getting nowhere anyti soon. So with great reluctance, he could only accept the deal.
"And what would be the terms of this temporary alliance?" he asked, prompting Arias, who was currently standing at the balcony of his personal quarters, to smile.
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