T/L note at the end please read that
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The Justice League's headquarters was located in the mountains.
Ethan had expected somewhere on the space station, since the Watchtower satellite was, in his memories, the base belonging to the league. Instead Clark had brought him to what appeared to be a facility located in the heart of the Rockies. The entrance was hidden beneath a thick mass of land, which could be reached only by flying or teleporting to.
Inside the mountain had been hollowed and reinforced with technology resembling Kryptonian Crystal as well as human and possibly Thanagarian tech. Large corridors of metal ran the length and breadth of the facility, lined with lights that imitated the sun. The air smelled recycled but clean, filtered by machines Ethan was sure had cost the thousands of dollars maybe even millions
They went through various security checkpoints, some of which scanned them at lengths Ethan could not see. Biometric scans and energy analysis. At least two of them analyzing for magic.
Batman was thorough.
They came to a large circular room, at the center of which was a great circular table, around which hovered holographic globes in which there appeared to be red dots.
Batman stood at the end of one of the long sides of the table, fully dressed in his Batsuit, cape hanging from his shoulders like a dark cloak.
Wonder Woman stood to his left, her armor reflecting the fake sunlight and Ethan had a feeling that the armors she wore did more than what it should
The Flash sat across from her, sipping from what appeared to be a cup of coffee? When had another one appeared? When had three appeared? Didn't matter
Martian Manhunter stood off to the side, near the eastern wall, his red eyes watching something
Green Lantern- Hal Jordan, Ethan thought, with a glance at the ring and his general demeanor- leaning back in his chair, legs crossed, instead of sitting up straight as was customary.
Aquaman was present and accounted for, though was sitting in a way that said he was the most normal one here.
"This is him" Batman's voice rang out, quiet but still cutting through the room to make everyone pay attention. "Yes," Clark said, "Ethan, you've met everyone here. Everyone, this is my brother from the parallel world. The one I told you about."
"The one with the vampire detection," Batman added, with no preamble. "Before we start, confirmation, please."
"What kind of confirmation?" Ethan asked.
"Use your power. Now. On everyone in this room."
It was blunt, but unsurprising. Ethan met Clark's eyes briefly before closing his own. Letting the Evil Detection spread from him like a mist, snaking around the room and picking up on all the tells.
Batman- human
Wonder Woman- warm. Ancient power. Not a vampire furthest from one to be exact
The Flash- human.
Martian Manhunter- alien. Not a Vampire.
Green Lantern- human.
Aquaman- not a vampire.
Ethan opened his eyes.
"All clean," he said. "No sign of vampirism in this room."
"How certain are you?" Batman asked.
"Completely. It doesn't lie. Vampires are wrong in a particular way. They light up like bulbs in a dark night for me."
"Couldn't a strong enough vampire hide from your power?"
It wasn't a question he had an easy answer for. He didn't know how strong a vampire's power could be, against something like Sequence 8 ability. He was sure he could detect them at high sequence and even if they tried they couldn't hide from him but at sequence 8, he didn't have that reassurance
"I don't know," he said ultimately. "The ones I've encountered so far haven't been able to hide from me, but I can't say for certain that a vampire stronger than any I've seen would be unable to do so as well."
"An honest answer," Batman said. He sounded neither pleased nor displeased, which may have been worse. "We'll work with that."
He turned to the console at the end of the table and punched in a few keys. The globe on the first display shrank to make room for a second, on which a list of names, and photos next to them, appeared.
"The Justice League currently has forty-seven members in its main roster, as well as auxiliary and reserve teams. The people in this room are the core of the League, but if we are to take this as a possibility, then we'll need to test all of them as well."
"You want me to check all forty-seven?"
"Every single one of them. I have sent priority alerts to all active members, they should be arriving shortly. Some already have."
"And if I find one?"
"That will be dealt with accordingly."
It wasn't so much the words that sent a chill down Ethan's spine, but the implication. Bruce Wayne already expected someone to be infected, already had contingencies in place for that scenario, very likely even for the scenario where one of those contingencies failed. He wasn't prepared to lose another friend.
"Okay. I'll wait"
Batman gestured to the corridor from which they had come. "There is a waiting room down that hallway. Third door on the left. It has food, water, and a communication terminal. Make yourself comfortable; this is going to take a while."
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The room was spartan but not uncomfortable. A couch and a table formed the main furniture, while a fridge held water and protein bars. On the wall there was a screen with what appeared to be the League's communication channel, which displayed a list of names as they arrived and acknowledged Batman's message.
Ethan sat on the couch as he waited.
They arrived in waves.
The first group came an hour later. Green Arrow and Black Canary, who traveled together often enough that it was unsurprising to see them together. Hawkgirl, her wings folded tight against her back, her mace slung over her shoulder like a belt. Zatanna, who smelled of smoke.
Ethan screened them all, one by one, as they came to the room where he was waiting. Clean. Clean. Clean. Clean.
The next group arrived two hours after the first. Cyborg, who greeted the system with an interface that connected directly to the mountain's systems. Shazam, who looked far too young for the powers he wielded, fidgeting in the chair. Black Lightning, whose body still crackled with the electricity from his last fight
Clean. Clean. Clean.
Then came the younger teams.
The Teen Titans, as a group- Nightwing leading the charge, followed by Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and a few others Ethan recognized from his last life. They were all young, but none looked inexperienced. Nightwing's face was set in the same grim expression Ethan had come to associate with Batman's
Clean. All of them. One by one.
More and more arrived, all from the various youth teams or the reserve teams, some of whom Ethan knew and some he didn't. They all looked either confused or concerned about the sudden emergency that had brought them all here, asking each other what it was all about.
By the fourth hour, Ethan had screened thirty-nine active members.
By the sixth, he had screened all forty-seven.
"Clean," he said, addressing Batman, who had arrived in the waiting room with the same silent grace as always. "All of them. No vampires among your active roster."
Batman nodded. "Good."
"Were you expecting otherwise?"
"I was preparing for otherwise. There's a difference."
Fair enough.
Batman turned and walked back the way he had come, Ethan trailing behind him. It was only now that the real task began.
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[T/L: Guys I can't do this shi š. How does my brother write chapters that are 3k minimum while some reach 6-8k sometimes. The reason why I haven't uploaded any chapters is because he sent me 4 chapters this week each more than 8k words which I have to translate and rewrite which given my time I can't do that. So I will ask for forgiveness in advance as I will be breaking down chapters in 1-1.5k words and uploading them here instead of uploading the full thing since it aint possible for me since I have uni and other things. Also for the questions he sometimes gives I will adjust them accordingly and post them with the relevant chapter]
Question: Ethan detected something unusual but from his perspective it's normal but for others it isn't. What do you think it is?
Your Answer: