| Mirror World Chicago - October 2
Joseph quickly realized that using the Mirror World for sightseeing was only the beginning. Here, he could hack anything—League databases, alien tech, even restricted archives—without consequence. Nova could handle the data flow, and the real world would never know.
Justice League Computer, Amazo, Lantern rings, the BatComputer… especially the BatComputer. He grinned. "I've got to see what specs Bats is rocking."
A map to Wayne Manor flashed on his HUD. "First destination: the Batcave." He added Mars, Atlantis, Oa, and Themyscira to his growing list. Did the magic in reality also hide the island here? There was no way to know until he found a new island that didn't appear in reality.
For now, the Batcave awaited.
**
| Mirror World Batcave - October 2
Joseph had been searching Wayne Manor for any trace of the Batcave. He hadn't expected it to be literally under the manor.
In his opinion, hiding your superhero base beneath your civilian home was kind of dumb especially for someone as known as Bruce Wayne. What if an earthquake exposed it? Still, it had worked for Batman so far, so who was he to judge?
The Batcave stretched before him—bare rock and metal supports illuminated by floodlights and spotlights. A raised platform housed a powerful computer that looked to share architecture with the Justice League's systems.
Time to see what secrets it held.
'Nova?'
//I have initiated a connection. Beginning data extraction.//
**
Lines of data filled his HUD, and Joseph scoffed.
Batman had theorized that he controlled nanites and designed a contingency plan involving malicious nanites meant to shut down his systems. Clever… but flawed. That would've worked only if his nanites were as primitive as Silver Swan's.
But he had Nova.
He continued reading through the rest of Batman's contingency files—morbidly fascinating, to say the least.
For Superman: kryptonite. Classic.
For Martian Manhunter: nanites that converted his outer skin layer into magnesium, igniting him on contact with air.
For Wonder Woman: a nanite injected into her ear, trapping her in an endless virtual combat simulation against an unbeatable opponent. Her Amazonian code would prevent surrender, leading to fatal exhaustion. Brutal.
For the Flash: a specialized vibrating bullet that induced seizures at lightspeed. Even more brutal.
And so the list went.
At first, Joseph felt outraged that Batman had created countermeasures for him. Then he reconsidered—it was fair. As the leader of the world's primary peacekeeping force, Batman had to plan for every possibility.
Joseph himself had run Dream State simulations pitting him against the entire League. The only ones he wasn't confident about were his mentor, Captain Atom—who could literally atomize him—and the Flash. The reason didn't need stating: the Speed Force. He knew firsthand how powerful it was.
As for tougher cases like Superman and Plastic Man, if Alien Excalibur couldn't cut through them, he could always open a boom tube trillions of miles from Earth. Problem solved.
Besides, if the League ever learned what he'd really been doing behind the scenes, Batman's paranoia would seem justified—though the others certainly wouldn't see it that way.
Still, the existence of these files was dangerous. If this information ever leaked, the consequences could be catastrophic. Even if the contingency plans themselves didn't destroy the League, the betrayal of trust in Batman would.
Why had Bruce stored such volatile data on the same network as the Justice League computer? Something like this should've been isolated—offline, disconnected from any external system.
The Light had already shown they could infiltrate the League. Thankfully, it seems they didn't have backdoors into the system—Nova checked—but the possibility still existed.
Of course, he couldn't exactly ask the man about his lapse in judgment without him raising questions of his own. So he decided to let it go.
And really—so what if this information ever did fall into the wrong hands?
He existed.
**
| Mirror World Philadelphia - October 2
Navigating the Mirror World was disorienting. Landmarks were reversed—east was west, left was right—and Joseph constantly relied on his HUD for guidance.
Descending from flight, he landed at S.T.A.R. Labs Philadelphia to retrieve Amazo's legs. He'd already visited the Detroit branch to collect the android's upper body and the Hall of Justice in D.C. for its head.
After the Team's battle with Amazo months ago, the League publicly claimed to have placed the power-mimicking android on display at the Hall of Justice. In truth, only the head was real. The rest had been quietly disassembled and distributed between two S.T.A.R. Labs facilities for research.
No one in their right mind would put technology capable of fighting the League to a standstill on public display.
Forcing his way through several reinforced doors, Joseph reached the containment chamber holding Amazo's legs. He extended his hands as his nanites spread outward like a metallic web, enveloping the final piece.
Then, without hesitation, he blasted through the ceiling and shot into the sky. The destruction didn't matter—damage here didn't reflect in the real world.
He'd also learned the Mirror World wasn't the infinite exploit he'd first imagined. It synced with reality every hour, updating itself, and he couldn't physically transfer objects from the Mirror World to reality. But that hardly mattered. He didn't need to bring anything out; he only needed Nova to analyze and retain the data.
//Analysis complete. Amazo's body contains specialized, self-evolving nanites—"absorption cells." These cells instantly scan and mimic the bio-signature, energy wavelength, or physics behind a metahuman or alien's powers. I have integrated these absorption cells into our own systems.
From Amazo's head are records of its clash with the Justice League:
– Black Canary's Canary Cry and martial skill
– Captain Atom's energy blasts
– Flash's speed
– Martian Manhunter's density shifting and shape-shifting
– Red Tornado's aerokinesis
– Superman's heat vision, flight, invulnerability, and strength
All redundant except Martian Manhunter's shapeshifting and Superman's invulnerability.
Unlike Amazo, who accessed powers one at a time, I have eliminated that limitation—and the proximity requirement as well.//
"Density shifting, huh…"
Joseph focused. His skin and bones twisted as his appearance changed, the process deeply uncomfortable. His black suit retracted, revealing a new face—a rugged, middle-aged white man's—reflected faintly in a sheet of ice he formed on his hand with Weather Wizard's tech. His build was leaner and slightly shorter. Perfect for his Bullseye identity.
"Good work, Nova. Now open a boom tube to Oa. If I'm going to become practically omnipotent, I might as well go all the way."
**
| Mirror World Oa - October 3
"You done yet? We've been here for hours, and you're using the Speed Force," Joseph grumbled, floating above Oa with ten Green Lantern rings on his fingers. "I get that the Fatherbox was complex, but a Lantern ring can't be that much harder to crack."
The rings had turned his golden suit green and added white stars. He didn't hate it, but gold would always be his color.
Oa's defenses were formidable. He couldn't phase through matter in the Mirror World, forcing him to tank massive energy blasts even while speeding across the surface. Still, with Strength Force durability and upgraded nanites, he barely felt it.
The ring AIs, however, were another story. They'd immediately objected to him wielding them, claiming he didn't "love justice enough" when he refused to recite some sanctimonious oath. Absurd—he loved justice so much that he wanted to control crime to make it more efficient.
They eventually stopped complaining when he willed them to stay quiet. Nova was never that annoying.
Wearing multiple rings didn't amplify a single ring's power output, but it expanded energy capacity exponentially—enough for him to sustain what he was doing now: maintaining a planetary shield made of complex mechanisms around Oa. The barrier's scale, density, and precision were staggering. He'd even tested it himself, hitting it at full power without Speed Force momentum. It only cracked briefly before sealing again.
Impressive, but the novelty had worn off fast. Aside from greater construct scale, the rings' functions were mostly redundant for him—and their dependence on power batteries made them less convenient.
//My apologies, sir. The Green Lantern Ring is the most complex weapon I've ever encountered—an artifact that turns emotion into physical law. It may take several days to fully decode and emulate.//
Joseph sighed. "Fine. I'm tired so let's wrap it up. We can always come back later."
//Next time, we should bring Sphere. Her insights in such matters are useful.//
He smirked. "Yeah, yeah, we'll bring your girlfriend next time. Let's go home now."
//...//