The sound of machinery echoed out across the chamber. Hisses, whirs, and the buzz of electricity greeted me as I worked at my station designing the figure on my screen.

Synthetic muscles, a reinforced skeletal structure with a modified metal comprising it with a unique molecular structure for better support and durability, and on and on the list went. Each design had been built up since the hunter's conception. Something I had been working towards was designing a body that I knew would be capable of giving an average-powered Justice League member a run for their money.

All around me in the grand chamber, pods looking like something grown out of a nightmarish field clung to the massive stone pillars rising high into the ceiling. Each of them was an egg-shaped housing for numerous hunter units hooked up to the simulator. 

Going through countless simulations against the League members we had clashed with by this point and whatever could be gathered from just watching their fights against various supervillains posted online, the simulator could give a decently accurate representation of them. 

The forms on the surface looked nearly identical to what they had been before. But as anyone could tell you, don’t judge a book by its cover. What was underneath was a far cry from what the original design was.

Before, they could easily handle Bruce, like when I faked the Court of Owls making a move. Now they could contend with Wonder Woman and Aquaman at their base levels. In the Amazon’s case, at three-fourths of the power output she was capable of when fighting the previous three androids I had created.

The great goldfish of the seven seas when he wasn’t in his home element, and if he was, then they didn’t have a means to counter the water all around them. I could make them far more powerful than that, but with Smith's current actions and comments, I wasn’t taking chances giving him or his brothers an all-powerful body that even I would have trouble dismantling.

Hephaestus from Justice League Unlimited had the right idea. Any creation I make needs to have at least one weakness to exploit. Should it ever be turned against me, then I need to counter it. If Bruce and the others figure it out, then the weakness would be changed to something else.

Like a creator of a random game some kids played, I am the master, and so I make the rules whatever I want. They can win some, but I am the ultimate victor of it all in the end. Designs of various weapons, both manually operated like a gun and built in for the units, whiz by at a breakneck pace as I put my current finishing touches on each of them.

A blocky rifle that weaponized sound, a pistol that shot globs of sticky adhesive that acted as an explosive compound, and knives built in with enough electrical charge that they would flash-fry a man’s body into nothing but ash, combined with the high-frequency modifications, making them capable of nearly cutting through almost anything.

The list went on, all of which were ideas I had at one point that I wanted to try with my own hands and not through the engineers like Light. Not that I had anything against cuddly space eels, but I had come to realize over time how much I over-relied on them. 

Not that using every tool at my disposal was a bad thing, but when that’s all I used, what would happen to me if I ever lost them or they were disposed of and I was on my own? I’d be screwed. Plus, it was oddly peaceful despite the speed at which I was working. Like mowing the grass, hitting that flow state without truly thinking and just acting.

I didn’t do this at the beginning, having to think over ideas of what I would like and how to make them viable and better once I got Light and the engineers. However, I was more focused on just improving it myself, whether it lost to the League or not didn’t matter to me. Or I should say I didn’t mind if they were broken or damaged or if anything went wrong with the weapons. Every flaw shown to me is not a setback. 

It showed me where I can make it better. It also helped that whatever had been given to me after the gala incident had been growing. When working on my weapon designs, it was almost like they were signaling me, whispering possibilities and secrets, tempting me along paths that led to better outcomes for the designs. 

All the tech around me was becoming like this, naturally drawn to it and finding newer innovations and ideas to improve it even if it was by inches. The beautiful part was that the improvements were anything but that. It may as well have been by dozens of miles. 

But even if the League manages to destroy my toys, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of its destruction, they didn’t truly destroy anything. Merely helped refine it, willing or otherwise. 

Ra’s never specified a date by which I needed to act, so I would assume within a few months, which I can handle. The important part of that is the chosen battlefield and how my opponents will be forced there, while ensuring they don’t work together, keeping them divided.

The past month had a lot happen, yet none of it was too big a deal. Well… besides learning that Kirk had debuted as a new superhero going by the name of ManBat. That had my jaw hanging when I was casually watching some drama Pam had recently gotten into on my apartment's couch when a commercial hit and I turned it over to the news. 

Pamela surprisingly didn’t recognize Kirk, but if Superman could hide behind some glasses and a homemade superhero costume that hid the majority of his body besides his mouth and jaw, then I don’t think most people would figure it out. The Clark Kent effect was a term people had coined after Superman since it is a thing that actually exists, funnily enough.

Pam, in the time since we had grown closer as a couple, had been making not so subtle hints that maybe with the increased paychecks we were receiving, we should get our own place together. Something I was hesitant to do right now. Later on, once the Silhouette part of my life could be tossed away, then it could be done.

Otherwise, keeping her in the dark about it is for the best. Not just because I want to keep her from that life, but even if she gained powers, I don’t want her becoming the villainous Poison Ivy. If she gained her powers, which I assumed came from a lab accident or something like it. 

Never did know about her origins before becoming the iconic villain. I would prefer to avoid it entirely, and if not, do my best to ground her and keep her on the side of the angels fighting against evil in all its forms.

Glancing over at a corner of the screen, seeing a message from Jaina. She thanked me for the tech and equipment that her currently hired scientists were over the moon about. After the League of Shadows appeared, I immediately contacted her to see if she was aware. 

She wasn’t. She, much like I, was kept in the dark about it. Every attempt to contact them was met with silence, just as it had been for me. Surprised was an understatement when she learned the Demon's Head himself had appeared before me.

Anger at being kept in the dark, annoyance at no contact whatsoever, and concern at the danger she believed I had been in. Even the revelation of Joker being taken care of had her go through so many emotions that she had to be suffering from whiplash. What needed to be explained was, and I told her about the offer and why I was doing it.

Not a half-truth, the full truth. All for one little girl. Jaina didn’t scoff like how Samantha would, if anything, she was fully supportive of me doing this. She didn’t like the idea of fighting the Justice League, knowing full well her talons, even after uncovering the methods Samantha used to create her superior ones, would have no chance against the heavy hitters.

But within Gotham City limits wouldn’t be the battleground for our fight if I had anything to say about it. Too much was invested in this city to just destroy it all. I had done enough damage to this city and its people in the beginning in my nearly insatiable greed. I can’t put them through something like that again unless it is necessary and no options at my disposal would work. Which wasn’t the case.

Few things, if any, could even exist to force my hand with such a thing. Typing away at the screen, checking over the information on each of the League's members’ current capabilities, lifting strength, and, in some cases straight up guesses. Superman and Wonder Woman are both great examples of that.

Superman was a hard one to gauge, he never showed strain or struggle at times when lifting objects that were not only many times his size but also weighed hundreds of tons, but then at other times when battling villains or whatever rampaging monster, he showed he wasn’t hitting as hard and struggled when compared to what he had lifted before, which was much greater, yet he didn’t struggle. So he was always holding back and putting on an act.

Wonder Woman’s recent upgrade had me concerned. The memory of this version being a daughter of Zeus came to mind when witnessing the raw power coming from her and the sudden storm with bolts of lightning. It was further driven home when all of Salza's capabilities with electricity harnessed from Extremis were rendered moot.

A press of a holographic display showed the footage from the three androids, the perspective focused on Salza’s as his sensors gave him, and by extension us, readouts on what was happening. Nothing was there, yet the readings for the bolts of lightning had power output far outscaling any naturally occurring lightning.

Yet the sensors couldn’t see what the energy was. But looking at it made a corner of my brain tingle, like it was something I should be familiar with and understand… yet I didn’t. It was something currently beyond me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel it.

Even now, like a breeze from the Bahamas finding its way to another country, I could feel it coming to Gotham. It shifted directions now and then, but I knew who it was coming from. Wonder Woman.

If I could feel her, and she spoke of what she felt coming from me. Then she knows where I am. Yet she and her group of friends have a means to track me, and I have no idea how to stop it. Not that it currently matters, but I’d rather have them be capable of doing such a thing right now. It made it far easier to draw them out. 

Another series of holographic buttons was pressed as I got an image of an area under construction. It would be another Nuka Cola factory on the outskirts of Gotham to help create more jobs. Nodding to myself before sending a message to Jaina that it was almost time.

My eyes glanced once more towards the numerous pods and weapons that had been lying in wait for such a moment. I didn’t take pleasure in hurting or wanting to even kill the Justice League. But I cannot deny the anticipation in me at getting a chance to walk up on stage and twirl my mustache while grandiosely challenging the heroes. The Venture Brothers show may have been onto something.

…

It was time. Bruce had been preparing for this moment for some time. He and the League had kept a close eye on Will, and he didn’t fail to notice him constantly coming and going to a new factory that he had just bought the land to begin construction. Once was doing his job as a company owner, but several dozen times in less than a week told him enough.

“Prepare to begin phase one.” He said to the others over the mental link Martian Manhunter had provided. Bruce had mentally prepared for this, refusing to let the others into his mind.

His mental defenses were like titanium gates to an impenetrable fortress. He would let things out, but nothing could force its way in. One of many contingencies he had in place should the League ever be compromised or taken control of by any number of means.

A chorus of acknowledgements from the various League members for this mission knocked on the walls in his mind before he let them in. He went through the various devices he had managed to plant miles away from the facility to spy on it. All for him to gather evidence.

Adjusting the zoom and going through infrared, thermal, and even more experimental methods of detection like sound, and a prototype akin to X-ray imagery. The last one was an attempt at creating an artificial means to duplicate Superman’s X-ray vision.

It was a work in progress, but it had come a long way from what it started as. Now it was good enough to help him. “J’onn, begin subverting the surveillance.”

It made his skin crawl when none of his sensors or methods of detection could track J’onn. He could only know his location because of his thoughts of his position and any relevant information being directed towards the group. The man was nigh invisible to the naked eye, thermal picked up nothing, and infrared could find trace differences, but any system without anyone directly looking at it would just see it as a glitch or nothing important.

The only reliable method he had of seeing his colleague was the sound-based vision acting like echolocation. It was something he took inspiration from when watching the footage of Kirk handling Anarky and his men. He never would have thought Kirk so capable, and the man normally wouldn’t be.

Reacting to attacks seemingly before they even happened, even when he couldn’t directly see someone, he could still fight them as if they were right in front of him. J’onn materialized a small part of himself, shifting his hand to attach several devices to each camera, subverting them.

The security system for the facility was more intricate and advanced for a beverage factory. It made him more paranoid. It was like the breadcrumb trail, as if Will wanted them to come. 

“We should just smash our way through now. He has to know we are coming.” Wonder Woman said across the link, making even J’onn pause mid-process of subverting the last form of security.

“Patience Diana, we don’t know that, and always assuming he is several steps ahead would lead to us making mistakes when he has no such advantage. Whatever he throws at us, we can handle it. Together.” The Martian said calmly, acting as a voice of reason.

“The same can be argued of the opposite, J’onn. He has always had something up his sleeve, the only time we had him dead to rights was when we first went to Gotham.” Hal growled through the mental link.

Out of them all, he was the least happy whenever Silhouette got brought up. John Stewart couldn’t join them, he had decided to go back to Oa and look for information pertaining to this Darkseid that Will had spoken of. 

“And this time we will have something to help bring him down. Now focus.” Bruce said getting back to business, pressing some buttons and putting the impressive security system on loop while using various audio sounds to fool the audio receptors he had hidden around the construction site. 

“The last of the security system has been dealt with.” J’onn was efficient and clinical in his mind as he spoke to them. 

“Good. Begin phase two.” Of the team assembled to take Silhouette down and bring his criminal operations to an end, all of the League had been gathered, each with a given objective.

Not only that, but he had pulled some strings and managed to get a significant number of other heroes or powered individuals not a part of the Justice League assembled to help them should Silhouette try anything like he had every other time they had gathered together or showed they would return to Gotham.

J’onn, Hal, and Wonder Woman alongside Batman, who glided out of his newly developed stealth jet high above, landed, scoping the area out. “J’onn, can you sense any other minds here or below us?”

At Bruce’s question, the Martian shook his head. “Yes.” Everyone perked up at that. “But it’s muddy, like trying to sift through highly dense material, I can’t quite make out what it is.”

“I also feel that same presence from when I encountered Silhouette the last time. He is here.” She said with determination, trying not to grind her teeth as she glared at the partially built factory like it had personally offended her.

“Prioritize stealth for now, if we are found out, then we go loud. We need to gather intel and figure out what he is doing down there.” Batman gave the order as they began to search for a way into whatever was hidden here, with the others lying in wait outside for the signal.

The group fanned out while keeping in contact. Bruce himself was near Wonder Woman, who moved quickly and quietly despite her colorful ensemble, which most would think would be too difficult to sneak around in. 

It wasn’t long before Hal found something. “Over here.” He said across the mental link they shared, not wanting to risk Silhouette tapping into any form of communication device. After he so easily compromised his upgraded suit, he wasn't taking any chances.

Hal had his ring illuminating the floor of the corner of the factory. The faint green light showed the internals of what should be a blank wall with hidden mechanisms behind it. 

“If I try to reveal more than this, the light will be too bright to conceal.” 

His thoughts made Wonder Woman give him an unamused expression.

He shrugs his shoulders. “Look, this is bright, but it doesn’t mean it’s easily spotted.” He defended himself before anyone could think anything further Bruce gave the order. Despite taking care of the security around them, it didn’t mean Silhouette didn’t have other means.

Wonder Woman was glad to be one step closer to finding Silhouette. She pressed on the section of the wall that a normal person would struggle to push in; she did it with ease as it slid in before a section of the floor slid down, revealing a ramp into the dark below.

Everyone shared a look before they descended into the abyss. Batman activated his night vision while Wonder Woman fearlessly strode forward, acting as the group's vanguard. After what happened, it was discovered that somehow she could see through the darkest of areas as if it was as plain as day.

They moved quickly but quietly. Hal had his ring ready for anything, going through a variety of constructs in his head. Batman mentally counted how far down this tunnel led with no lights, and Wonder Woman waltzed forward, ready to end this threat and toss him behind bars in the deepest hole in the ground she could find.

“So… what do you think we will find down here?” Hal asked, trying to relieve the tension. Never had a mission been this tense before. Bruce was familiar with it from every crime he had fought, but not like this.

“Weapons designs, more androids in development, research, and possibly his facility for manufacturing the potions. Could be anything,” Batman said, honing his senses. Even if Diana were here, that didn’t mean he could drop his guard. 

At that, Hal and the others remained silent, with J’onn staying behind, maintaining his near-invisible state despite Bruce having long since learned to know when someone was near even if he couldn’t see them. Similar to the feeling you get when someone is staring at you.

A light had appeared near the end of the tunnel while Batman mentally calculated they were at least a mile and a half under the surface. Just further proved to him, and once he shared it with the others, how much power and resources Will had. He didn’t just get this from the gang war or the aftermath. This would have taken a lot of time to accomplish, and none of it could be so well hidden that they wouldn’t have known about it.

What little they could dig up on Will wasn’t much. The man was a ghost. Besides some secured government files mentioning him, he otherwise didn’t exist beyond a rather impressive fake identity that would fool most people.

The group stuck to the shadows of the walls, with J’onn moving forward at Batman’s order to scout, moving into what the group saw through his eyes as a massive chamber. Either it was a natural cave that was even bigger than the Batcave, or it was artificially dug out. 

What made the group's eyes widen was the numerous machines standing at attention. Massive bipedal and quadrupedal animal-like mechs, machine soldiers lined up in formations and rows upon rows along the floor or walls. Even weapons could be seen that didn’t look like conventional ones.

The place was a warehouse holding countless tools of destruction. Hal gave them all a look. “So much for a research facility.”

“What now?” Wonder Woman asked Batman, since he was their squad leader, if she wanted to destroy this entire place.

“We can’t walk away from this. I have explosive charges that can be planted on those rock pillars. Take those out and the entire place comes down.”

“And if we lose the element of surprise?” 

Batman simply gave a small smile that answered the question enough for her. Satisfied, the group moved in when J’onn showed that there wasn’t any security currently inside the chamber. That made the group even more on alert.

“Either Silhouette is incredibly confident that the security outside would keep anyone from getting in, or this is a trap.” J’onn pointed out the same thought that had gone through their collective minds.

Wonder Woman’s anger and irritation could be felt across the link. Batman’s stoic patience managed to soothe her and the others as they moved around, sticking to cover ranging from consoles displaying data on various weapons and technology that Batman took several photos of with his cowl’s built-in camera.

The room was dark beyond the terminals and holographic displays that dotted the chamber, and the machines made for what they could only assume was war stayed motionless. Batman stayed near a console as the others stayed near and hidden as he began hacking into the console near them with a wire coming from his utility belt attached to a handheld device.

Plugging it in, he began hacking into it, but instead of facing a heavy encryption, he was immediately allowed inside of it, to his and the others’ surprise. Then the screens all changed and shifted, showing Silhouette's gas mask-clad face.

“Hello, Batman, I see you have brought your Justice Friends to my party,” He said with a humorous tone somehow, despite his voice being so distorted you couldn’t normally tell. “I am so glad you could make it, even if it is a little disappointing that the others couldn’t join us.”

The group was on guard now, with them looking around, yet nothing was happening. The tension grew thick, the heroes back to back, with J’onn keeping his distance, not giving away he was here, just as they had planned.

“Of course it was a trap,” Hal said, shaking his head, his ring becoming brighter.

“You say that like I hadn’t constantly left crumbs for you to come here. Come now, Green Lantern, smile for the cameras, you're on national television after all!” The group paused at that before the various displays and screens shifted.

Multiple TV stations and internet hubs showed them looking around as the group became more annoyed by the second. “Now the whole world gets to see their favorite heroes fighting the good fight!”

Then the cavern lit up with all the shadows evaporating like water in the Sahara. The various machines whirred to life, shifting and turning to look towards them. 

“So much for stealth,” Hal said with a small smile.

Wonder Woman cracked her knuckles, an eager gleam in her eyes. “I prefer it this way.” 

The group prepared for the machines to begin attacking them as J’onn and Batman sent the signal for the others. None of them failed to notice Silhouette's form on the screen tense up as if he was in pain.

Unique insight into the nature of reality has given you the somewhat troubling ability to bend space, or at least build structures that bend space. You can build things like buildings that are much bigger on the inside than their exterior would suggest, tunnels and halls that cross continents, even a series of connected spaces that randomly move you between them whenever you enter a door. The limiting factor is that you'd need to spend the same amount of resources as constructing the actual structure would be, although thankfully you won't need to spend as much time; a bigger on the inside house would use the amount of materials that the bigger insides suggest, for example. In addition, your twisted mind helps protect from mind reading, as your mind is as labyrinthine as your creations.