TRANSCRIPTION FILE - 2nd SEMIANNUAL MEETING
Transcript by Brother Eye
Superman – At 4:02 PM on a Sunday the second semiannual meeting of the Justice League takes place. Rescheduled in advance due to the urgency of the matter to be addressed here.
Wonder Woman – We are not before a court; no one will be judged or sentenced. There is no oath or penalty, only complicity and justice.
Batman – We are not here to understand the situation that unfolded — you have already taken care of that by yourselves. We want to address the silent pact made by the majority of the Justice League members. Which does not include any of the three of us who opened the meeting.
Wonder Woman – Who wishes to open the discussion?
Flash – I don’t want to rush, but I would like to state in advance that I no longer agree with the agreement I once helped propose. I would like to apologize — on my own behalf and on behalf of my teammates.
Green Lantern – Let’s speak by ourselves.
Wonder Woman – Apologies are not necessary. We are not hurt or disappointed, even though, by right, we could be. Actually we are distressed by what may have been caused by your actions.
Hawkgirl – There is no need to be distressed, not at all. The result was a gradual reduction of crime across the globe — isn’t that the Justice League’s goal?
Superman – That is not our goal, perhaps a consequence, but it will never be our method. What is the cost of peace? How much is the end of war worth? It’s not a quantity, not for us.
Green Lantern – Who do you mean when you say “us”? Because it sounds like you are only describing the thoughts you and your confidants share.
Superman – It’s the thought I believed we all shared: justice. That’s why I thought we had convened. But I’m not ashamed to be wrong.
Flash – You weren’t wrong. We were — we were overwhelmed at the time and wanted an easy way to solve things.
Vixen – For God’s sake, stop talking like you’re our spokesperson.
Batman – Flash, you’re not a child anymore. You’re not even the youngest at this table. Face the consequences of your actions and choices, because nobody here will do it for you.
Doctor Light – Flash is just explaining what motivated him to join the agreement.
Batman – It’s not necessary.
Doctor Light – But I sympathize. I feel represented when he says it seems our fight never ends. I wasn’t a member of the League when that idea was proposed, but I can see how it arose. It seems there is no long-term victory...
Zatanna – There never was. That’s why we thought we could put an end to the cycle. No offense, but I wouldn’t be surprised if people lost faith in the Justice League over time.
Batman – Some of us don’t do it for recognition.
Zatanna – I didn’t say I need recognition. I said that if they stopped believing in us, it would be justified. Because we wouldn’t be providing the populace with what we should: a better world.
Batman – And how many lobotomized people goes on your perfect world?
Zatanna – It wasn’t lobotomization.
Wonder Woman – You removed their evil, Zatanna. But it is sin that, sadly, often forms the defining character of a human being.
Martian Manhunter – There was more. But perhaps they themselves gave up what made them human when they decided to become monsters.
Batman – Why outsource the mental manipulation to Zatanna? The Martian doesn’t like to get his hands dirty?
Martian Manhunter – If I had done it, your appointments trough lobotomy would finally make some sense. It’s impossible to calculate the damage I could cause to a human brain if I isolated all the evil from someone who is basically composed of it.
Superman – If you understood that... and if you know how complex and fragile the mind is, why would you even support that idea?
Martian Manhunter – That was the only sentence imposed on convicts by Martian society. Because it was far more effective than all the others. There was no suffering or pain, only a new chance.
Superman – Mars’ laws do not apply to Earth. Neither ethics nor morals, and not even physiology is the same. Humanity has its own culture to be respected.
Martian Manhunter – I didn’t say otherwise.
Green Lantern – And even if you had, can’t we incorporate into our society the best things we see in others around us? Is it wrong to want to change the world?
Wonder Woman – It is wrong to want to change people. Not their ideas or choices, but their core.
Green Lantern – Don’t treat the people we have to deal with as immutable beings who deserve respect for being completely depraved and insensitive.
Vixen – Exactly. We’re not talking about thieves who lurk in corners or killers motivated by self-defense. They’re lunatics who dress up to create panic, who stalk people, who abuse some of them, kill many more, and ultimately traumatize everyone they cross paths with.
Hawkgirl – There is no divine justice, no light at the end of the tunnel. They will never pay in kind. And we are supposed to just accept that?
Vixen – When I infiltrated Task Force X and dismantled it from within, it was terrifying. I even thought I was tough, but I was surrounded by true demons. Whether the psychotics handcuffed beside me or those who commanded me through the earpiece — all evil at their core, all excited for the next kill. All ready to step on each other.
Doctor Light – You described Arthur Light. He wasn’t the villain who was going to destroy half the city with a bomb; he didn’t even have the money for that. But he spent years tormenting me with messages, stalking me in the streets and... my God, what would he have done to me if I had been unprotected? If I were just a normal girl... a girl like Sue Dibny. With no super powers to help me.
Hawkgirl – I’m sorry. But Arthur Light didn’t get anything close to what he deserved.
Flash – I imagined things like that could be fixed overnight. That crimes could just stop happening, and that so many people could stop coming out so hurt for something they didn’t even deserve.
Green Lantern – For them the Justice League places a bandage, but doesn’t prevent the wound — even though we could. But I know certain wounds never heal, and I will never forgive myself for having caused many of them. But you know that too, right? You know that episodes of violence like these will never stop. The Gotham Massacre, the death of Robin, the murder of Julia Kapatelis, Aquaman’s son... there are more innocent deaths than can be counted.
Superman – So was that our discussion about causes and motivations?
Hawkgirl – No. That was our entire discussion.
Wonder Woman – Not yet. Every cause has a consequence. And you cannot proceed without seeing that.
Superman – We asked Batman to investigate and take notes of the whereabouts of each of those affected by your actions. Let’s put it on the scales, if that’s what you want. Let’s see how much justice costs.
TRANSCRIPTION FILE - 2nd SEMIANNUAL MEETING
Transcript by Brother Eye
Wonder Woman – Everyone knows why we are here. Sue Dibny died at the beginning of last week. She lived a long and happy life next to her husband while working as the personal secretary of the Justice League — at least that’s what we thought.
Superman – Sue would receive a large funeral in her honor for her contribution to the heroic community, like any other Justice League member. But her husband, Ralph Dibny, refused our gift. Instead he handed us this letter.
Batman – The letter was written by Sue some years ago and was kept in her belongings. In it she reports the truth about that night, and about the pact of silence she kept with the Justice League members. Ralph was inconsolable with the truth, and we also didn’t know how to help him.
Zatanna – Sue supported the idea from the start... but she asked that her mind not be affected.
Batman – And what about my mind? Did she vote for or against having me affected? Come on, don’t be shy.
Wonder Woman – The letter also revealed that Batman witnessed the occurrence, but his memory was erased so that he would not know about the treaty among you. Sue did not have the right to vote, and that made her very upset. She didn’t think it was fair.
Superman – We didn’t think it was fair either. You had your chance to reverse it, to tell us everything. But you decided to proceed and do even worse.
Batman – Do you realize what you did? Night after night I found myself tormented for years by a feeling that I couldn’t trust anyone. I spent nights and nights creating a containment plan for each of you. Without understanding why and without knowing what motivated my unconscious paranoia that kept me awake for so long.
Flash – Containment plans?!
Superman – Your secrets generated distrust. And with reason. Batman already shared this project with us, which he had been devising for years with the support of the U.S. government and ARGUS. But that’s another story.
Green Lantern – You’re crazy. We represent a threat to you now?
Wonder Woman – That’s the problem, we no longer know what you represent. It’s as if we no longer speak the same language. And I assume that’s not true, because I do speak all of them.
Vixen – I agree! Things need to be clarified, all of them. I don’t care about containment plans if that’s what makes you feel safe, but I think it’s important to say that this secret of ours is what motivated Black Lightning to leave the League. And I understand him now.
Hawkgirl – When he finally discovered about it, we were dealing with… the Secret Society. And then he was the only one who voted against it. Jeff is a teacher, right? He believed in education. While I skipped class to smoke.
Superman – We suspected as much, and we don’t blame Jeff for that. He was a faithful ally until the end of his contribution to the Justice League. And when faced with injustice he chose not to become complicit. Meanwhile, your secrets began to generate more and more consequences. We needed help to understand how far your actions extended. So we sought outside help. Dr. Fate.
Zatanna – I can’t believe it.
Batman – We found Arthur Light living on the coast of Japan, he married a local and had two children. But he had no memory of his time as Doctor Light. So Dr. Fate had to reverse the spell placed on him.
Zatanna – No! Why did you do that?! You couldn’t have done that.
Batman – We had no way of knowing; you never made a point of telling us that Arthur Light wasn’t the only one affected by your magic.
Wonder Woman – Suddenly all the previously enchanted super-villains recovered their memories — even though they were scattered across the world.
Green Lantern – That’s very bad. And it must be reversed.
Superman – No. We decided that now we will deal with what we hid for so long.
Zatanna – You don’t understand. Besides Arthur, we also altered the minds of Dr. Destiny, Brainwave, Black Mass, Dr. Spectro, Dummy, Evil Star, Lady Lunar, Sonar, Rampage, Major Disaster, Puzzler, Monocle, Neutron... and so many more that I may have forgotten!
Batman – We know, Zatanna! Dr. Fate was able to list everyone he was connected to, we located them and I even studied some of them.
Zatanna – That’s not the problem! Listen to me...
Batman – They’re all zombified! And each year they became more apathetic and lost! Those who managed to build a new life were at risk of losing it, they forgot to do things, forgot people they loved, even how to perform common tasks. Others didn’t get far after being enchanted; they were taken into care homes or simply left to die on the street. Your justice was flawed, inconsequential, and what angers me most... it was stupid!
Zatanna – I understand, but they aren’t the problem! We have already repented. I repented for what I did to each one of them! But there are some who cannot be recovered under any circumstances.
Martian Manhunter – The Secret Society...
Superman – We already know.
Hawkgirl – I was about to say that the group led by Vandal Savage, the Secret Society, discovered our true identities in the past; some of us had to deal with them and knew we couldn’t leave them free. Even if they weren’t as evil as the rest, we were forced to activate the protocol.
Superman – And I said we already know that. This morning we met with members of the Secret Society. They were willing to cooperate, but Vandal Savage found them first. He forced them to reveal our real identities, as well as those of our closest allies.
Green Lantern – What? And why didn’t you warn us?! We could have resolved this faster.
Superman – Because from now on we resolve this together! And we can only do that when secrets and intrigues are finished completely. Obviously the Justice League will prevail, that we will arrest them in time and that we will save everyone we love, but first we needed to clear everything among ourselves. No more secrets.
Wonder Woman – Let’s create emergency contacts for our friends and family; they must be kept safe and must contact us if they notice unusual movement. Some of us must protect them while we deal with Vandal Savage.
Flash – We can send civilians to S.T.A.R. Labs...
Zatanna – William Zard, Jason Woodrue, Deborah Darnell, Mark Desmond, Hunter Zolomon, Aviva Metula... Have they all been located?
Superman – Yes, and they won’t be a problem, for now. We’re more worried about Savage, who allied with the League of Shadows and seems to have gained access to the contingency plans created by Batman together with ARGUS.
Vixen – ARGUS? Please don’t say you were working alongside Amanda Waller. You have a lost your mind?
Batman – Yes, I had. Waller promised me to protect the contingency plans. But she failed. A testing base for the project in San Monté was coerced by the League of Shadows into handing over all the information they had. She even tried to send a task force to handle the operation, but it was too late.
Doctor Light – Sorry, but I can’t pretend I feel safe. They have our identities, weaknesses, and the names of everyone we love... we have never been so unprotected. What will become of the Justice League from now on?
Superman – This will be the Justice League’s future: us acting together to achieve the same objective, as it always has been.
Wonder Woman – We can’t afford to split. The world is bigger than our opinions and ideals, and we can only save it when we act together.
Doctor Light – I don’t think so. At least not for me.
Flash – What do you mean?
Doctor Light – I want to leave the Justice League.
Superman – Doctor Light, you are not being rational.
Doctor Light – Everything I am thinking from now on is thanks to my brain. Because it was my heart that made me join the Justice League, and that is how I ended up in this situation.
Superman – That’s your opinion. And if you think you must give us up to go solo, there’s nothing we can do. But no one makes a difference alone.
Doctor Light – I won’t go alone. Maxwell Lord made me an offer.
Wonder Woman – Please, my sister. Don’t fall for the merely lucrative proposals that this flatterer may offer. There is no heroism in his actions.
Doctor Light – Maybe not so far, but I can change that. He offered me my own super-team. An international league of heroes that will act doing good, but completely in concert with the United Nations.
Batman – Or they will simply become as complicit with global injustice as UN is.
Doctor Light – Not if it depends on me.
Flash – Please, think again.
Superman – So that was your choice. There’s nothing more to discuss. And we must hurry.
Batman – We have a global communication attempt taking over any transmission line on the Earth’s surface; I believe this is our new priority. And our first step.
Superman – And who is trying to communicate?
Batman – It is attached to a group of Lexcorp’s satellite programs. The transmission is named “Legion of Doom.”
Wonder Woman – Brother Eye, end transcription of the meeting, send the file to the Watchtower records. And remove any and all information about Doctor Light from our personal files.
Transcription Ended