Chapter 186: Butterfly Effect Part 4

Shortly after meeting with Barbara, Arias left the school grounds and entered his private vehicle, where a driver was waiting.

In the back seat, Cheshire was seated comfortably with her legs raised against the front seats. Seeing Arias, she smiled. "You sure live a good life, boss. I'm used to roaming jungles and sneaking through vents, but I could get used to this."

Arias took a seat and leaned back, not even glancing at her. "Enjoy it while it lasts. We'll be getting to work very soon."

That reply only made Cheshire smile carefreely, not at all fazed. "Oh, I think you'll find I'm very good at getting my hands dirty. What about—"

Before Cheshire could finish speaking, Arias's phone buzzed. The caller ID indicated it was Mercy Graves.

He raised it to his ear and answered quickly, "Yes?"

"We have a problem. Turn on the news," Mercy quickly reported, causing Arias to shift his glance towards Cheshire. "Turn on the monitor."

A curious Cheshire followed his instructions and leaned forward to click a button near the armrest. In the next moment, a medium-sized monitor slowly rose up from a hidden slot and flashed on.

Once on, Arias used his free hand to control a dial on the armrest, surfing through channels until he stumbled upon something that caused his brows to furrow.

*Breaking News: A recent article published by the Daily Planet is taking the internet by storm. The article, written by one Lois Lane, claims that recently pardoned Gotham billionaire, Arias Markovic, is the reason Metropolis's man of steel is missing in action.*

*The article accuses the Gotham billionaire of using foul play against the hero when they tried confronting him after his escape from the military base incident that claimed numerous lives. The people of Metropolis are now calling for justice as they believe Arias Markovic to be a murderer who should not be allowed to roam the streets. No response from the Justice League or the White House has been made yet, but our correspondents are—*

Click.

Having heard enough, Arias turned off the monitor, clearly unhappy, before asking Mercy, "Who was Lane's source?"

"I've been trying to figure that out for the past few minutes, but nothing. She didn't reveal it to the station and kept it anonymous. Probably only she knows."

"Alright, focus on damage control. Whoever did this clearly has a vendetta against me, and they don't care about letting the world know Superman isn't as invincible as people think," Arias quickly deduced, using the facts present before him.

"Do you want me to have Slade ask his contacts in the underworld? No information passes without leaving some sort of trail or something."

"No need. I would have assumed it was a criminal, as most heroes wouldn't want Superman to appear weak. It would only incite criminals and decrease public morale. However, only the government and the League know about his condition—or rather, knew. Even if it somehow reached the underworld, the source is still one of two parties." Not one to let small details pass him, Arias was quick to reach a conclusion he was sure of.

"Alright. I'll keep you posted. Good thing Terra went to Markovia as an ambassador for the HS virus initiative. The media is practically drooling to interview her. It may be a good idea to have her stay a week or so longer and avoid the public eye until the heat dies down."

"True. Any blunders in what she says and the situation could deteriorate further. Do what you must. I'm going to see if I can find the source of this leak." 

Click.

Arias ended the call and tossed the phone aside, his mind in thought. He had been more than 70% sure that the matter regarding Superman would be kept under wraps by both the public and the Justice League. The negatives of revealing it far surpassed the positives, especially now that Arias had already been pardoned.

Sure, it would damage his reputation and image to an extent, but that was it. Which begged the question: who would do something so stupid?

As for why Arias was bothered, he saw it as a nuisance. It was far too early for his true colors to be revealed.

He didn't care if the public eventually knew about his ways, but not before he established a powerful foundation, composed of the finest individuals Earth had to offer. Given enough time, he was confident in his ability to slowly mold someone into accepting his views, even if they were the most just of characters. Everything had a way.

"So you really did beat up the man of steel. You're getting more and more impressive, boss," Cheshire praised, her nature unchanged even when Arias demonstrated a sour mood.

Cheshire was still on probation, but with the truth already out, he didn't bother denying it. Right now, aside from Mercy, Slade, Rose, and Cheshire, Arias was lacking capable individuals. Harley was perhaps his most loyal subordinate, but calling her "capable" was a slight stretch. The same could be said for the justice-upholding Diana, who had only seen one side of Arias's spectrum.

"Let's just say we ended things on a divided note." Having said that, Arias clicked on a button that lowered the separation screen between the back and the front seats. "Driver, back to the office," he instructed before raising the screen once again and leaning back. *I suppose the consequences of my actions are finally catching up to me. Funny.*

…

Later that day, as night fell in Star City, the shimmering lights of the city lit up, some of the brightest centered around a tall building with the name "Queen Industries."

Within the large business tower, at the very top floor, a man dressed in a fine suit with messy blonde hair and a somewhat thick mustache approached the building's main office, stopping only to look at a woman seated behind a desk just outside of it.

"Melanie, feel free to clock off. I'll be pulling a long one today to catch up with everything I've missed."

The woman, pretty by most standards with a petite frame, looked away from her monitor and smiled at the man. "I don't have anything planned, Mr. Queen. I don't mind keeping you company," she offered, somewhat shyly, clearly infatuated by the man.

"I told you to call me Oliver when it's just the two of us. No need to be so stiff. And I wasn't asking—consider it an instruction from your boss. We can't have a pretty young lady being cooped up in here on a weekend night. Go on, shoo. Don't worry, I won't burn the building down." Oliver teased with a smile as she sighed in resignation and gathered her things before saying her goodbyes.

After she got on the elevator, he finally proceeded into the main office. Shortly after, the lights came on automatically, but with them, a voice…

"She seems nice."

The sudden emergence of a voice from behind caused Oliver to quickly turn around, a punch already in motion. However, he halted it just as he was about to make contact with the voice's owner—Batman.

"Jesus! Could you not do that? I have a phone number, you know?" Oliver complained as he stepped away from Batman and approached his desk.

Batman maintained his position at the door as he replied, "Why did you leak the information?"

This question caused Oliver to pause, and the smile he once had faded as he turned to face Batman, asking a question of his own, "Don't the people have a right to know what kind of man has been let loose on the streets?"

"It was under control. You—"

"No, it wasn't! If it was, nobody would've gotten hurt and innocent people wouldn't have died. I get why the government would want this, but not us. Aren't we supposed to be the heroes?" Oliver angrily interrupted and asked.

Batman's frown grew deeper. "You're letting your emotions cloud your judgment. Even you should know that releasing that information was a mistake. So I'm asking you again, why did you do it?"