The members of the Justice League went without saying, while Blade and Black Panther considered Batman a comrade-in-arms and a brother.
Black Knight was trained by Batman himself, and Vulture had long planted the seed in his heart to follow Batman, even risking his life to pass on intelligence.
Wolverine knew Batman's true identity was Peter Parker and had even traveled all the way from Canada to New York for the sole purpose of protecting Peter.
These people were fully qualified to set foot on Bat Island and become recognized members by Batman.
The only exception was Thor, the God of Thunder. This guy's strength was astronomically off the charts, and Batman lacked a complete understanding of him; yet at this moment, he too had followed the superheroes to Bat Island.
Even if Thor had wanted to leave, Batman wouldn't have let him depart so easily—though it was obvious the guy had no intention of leaving in the first place.
Along the way, Thor hesitated several times, opening his mouth as if to speak, but Batman gave him no opportunity to question him in private.
The Batcave beneath Bat Island consisted of several subterranean levels, each serving a distinct purpose.
Batman naturally wouldn't lead them straight to the core area. Instead, he brought them to a massive conference room.
This room was built by Batman for the Bat-Family he might have in the future; the official Justice League conference room was located on South Brother Island.
However, more than half of the laboratory on South Brother Island had been destroyed, making it no longer suitable to bring the superheroes there.
As the superheroes took their seats one by one, Hulk reverted to Dr. Banner's human form and threw on a coat, while Professor Connors returned from Metropolis Hospital.
With that, the members of the Justice League were finally all present. Professor Connors whispered a few words to Dr. Otto, gaining a rough understanding of what had transpired in Times Square, before staying silent.
No one here was a blabbermouth, so there were naturally no whispered conversations.
"The business regarding Hydra and Latveria is temporarily settled, but we had better not pretend this is the end," Batman got straight to the point, his voice deep and grave.
"What are you trying to say, Batman?" Wolverine asked.
"I'm saying that today's battle didn't need to happen in the first place," Batman stood before the assembled heroes, his face bearing not the slightest trace of joy over the victory. "That affair in Latveria was a mistake right from the very beginning."
The superheroes deeply agreed. Even Black Knight, Dane Whitman, was coming up with other, far more discreet methods with smaller collateral damage in his head.
"Fury used lies to drag Wolverine and the others into an illegal operation, then used memory wipes to cover up the truth. The result? Two years later, Lucia came back to New York with a gang of criminals. We nearly lost Luke Cage, and we nearly lost the entire city."
That was true. If Batman hadn't reverse-engineered the magic circle meant to sacrifice Thor, the dozens of Frost Giants summoned by Loki would have unquestionably flattened all of Manhattan—if not all of New York.
Who's Luke Cage? Vulture thought to himself. Having been locked up in prison first and then held in Latveria, he had no idea who these various heroes were.
"Even if it was a mistake, the matter is over for now," Wolverine said.
His anger had dissipated significantly by now, mostly because that damned Nick Fury hadn't appeared right under his nose.
"Yes, but Loki, Enchantress, Madame Hydra, and Executioner are still at large. Our future enemies might be them, or they might be far more than that," Batman said.
"You want to recruit us? Form a league of your own like Iron Man?" Wolverine asked again.
He was the only one here who would speak so bluntly, though Wolverine was unaware that Batman already had his own Justice League.
"No," Batman said.
The Justice League was not a shelter, not a club, and certainly not an army that could expand without limit.
Even if the people sitting in this conference room could be considered Batman's comrades-in-arms, allowed to set foot on Bat Island, some of them were still far from reaching the level of trust he placed in Professor Connors.
Once again: human nature changes, and even Batman could not fully control human nature.
"The fundamental cause of today's war was that Nick Fury, as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., held total authority. Even if the ones he assembled were not S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, he was still the guy pulling the strings behind the scenes."
"And when the guy controlling everything gets outsmarted by an entity like Loki, disaster is born."
Batman didn't look at Thor as he spoke, but the God of Thunder from Norse mythology couldn't help standing up. Just as he was about to speak, Batman cut him off:
"We are comrades-in-arms. I don't want anyone here closing doors to make decisions on their own when facing similar situations in the future. When you think you can single-handedly bear a necessary evil, and when you choose to keep the truth from everyone, you are planting a landmine."
Thor opened his mouth. The feeling of trying to speak several times only to be cut off made his chest feel heavy and congested. If Batman hadn't rescued him from the Realm of Silence, Thor would have thrown his hammer at him long ago.
"Blade, you need to deal with the vampires. Black Panther, Wakanda still needs you. Wolverine, the concept of mutants has been exposed; trouble will brew sooner or later..."
"Therefore, I will not drag you into joining my league—with one exception."
As Batman spoke, his gaze finally settled on Thor, the God of Thunder:
"Whether you agree or not, I need you to join my league."
Thor let out a sigh of relief, realizing it was finally his turn to speak:
"Thou art no ordinary mortal. I am willing to repay thee for saving my life."
Venom Robin quietly mimicked Thor's archaic tone in a low voice, only to have his arm gently patted by Dr. Otto beside him.
Fearless as Venom Robin was, he was unusually timid around Dr. Otto, who possessed no superpowers whatsoever. He dared to swear at Batman, but he didn't dare cross Dr. Otto. At this moment, he shrank his neck and obediently kept his mouth shut.
"I don't need you to repay any life-saving favor. Everything I did was merely for self-preservation," Batman said.
While that sounded selfish, the superheroes didn't actually take it that way.
"I need you, Thor," Batman said.
The Justice League's current combat capability appeared formidable with the Hulk and the Lizard, but Hulk needed time to build up his rage when facing powerful foes, Professor Lizard was inferior to Hulk, and Venom Robin was still in training.
If they ever encountered powerful entities like the Frost Giants again, Thor's presence would be vital.
Batman needed someone of Superman-level caliber like Thor—not just for his sheer strength, but also to spend time studying Thor's weaknesses and preparing contingency plans in advance.
However, there was no need to voice those thoughts out loud.
"I am willing to stand with thee," Thor said.
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