Earth continued to rotate beyond the reinforced windows of the watchtower. Members of the Justice League sat around a central table, the atmosphere tense. Batman was at the head of the table, expression unreadable like always. Wonder Woman stood near the windows with her arms crossed. Superman was leaning forward in his chair, his arms clasped and resting on the table. The Flash occupied a seat near the back, trying to keep his fidgeting to a minimum. Hawkgirl sat with her wings folded tight against her back.
J'onn stood slightly apart from the others, maintaining his distance from the group.
"Before we begin, I would like to apologise for missing the last briefing. Lois and I had..." He paused with a slight smile. "Well, we had reservations that we made six months in advance, and if I cancelled again, I'm fairly certain she would start dating Bruce Wayne out of spite," Superman said.
"Please, his idea of a date is brooding on rooftops." Flash snorted.
"I've been on worse," Wonder Woman said.
"You've dated worse? I have so many questions." Flash replied, his eyes widened.
"Focus. We have a development," Batman said flatly, though his face may have had a slight twitch you could argue was a smile.
"Right. I apologise." Superman's smile faded.
The holographic display activated, showing footage of Sophist's latest scenario. The room's mood shifted immediately.
"Seventeen hours ago. I responded to a cluster of panicked minds. Twenty-five civilians were trapped in a sealed conference room with liquid nitrogen being pumped through the ventilation system," J'onn stated, gesturing at the display. "I arrived within minutes and immediately encountered him."
Sophist appeared on screen.
"He explained the scenario to me, saying in order to free the civilians, I must reach the end of the corridor and press the override button. The complication was that he lined the corridor with speakers and blasted them with white noise, which was incredibly painful due to my enhanced hearing. Normally I would shift to remove my hearing, but he said if I used my powers, he would release all the liquid nitrogen, killing everyone inside," J'onn continued. "I managed to reach it and released all the civilians; all survived with minimal injury."
"That's good news, but..." Superman said.
"He knew everything about me. This level of preparation suggests..." J'onn said, looking around the table.
"Extensive research, a high intellect and a strong intent," Batman finished his sentence.
Batman pulled up another display, showing the timeline of events stretching back three months.
"Prior to Denver, every confirmed Sophist operation targeted one person: Hawkgirl exclusively. His behaviour suggested a fixation, possibly an obsession, with Hawkgirl. Everything pointed towards her being his primary interest. Now that pattern is broken," Batman said, his eyes narrowing towards the end.
"He's changing." Wonder Woman moved closer to the display.
"Or expanding," Batman said.
"Or we misunderstood him from the start." Flash said, leaning back in his chair.
"You're saying we've been looking at this all wrong?" Superman frowned.
"I'm saying the data changed, which means we have to adapt and make a better interpretation," Batman replied.
Hawkgirl had been quiet since the briefing began, but now she was leaning forward, looking at all the footage.
"It's the same," she said quietly.
Everyone started to look at her.
"The structure. It's a lesson," Hawkgirl continued, not looking away from the screen. "He didn't try to kill J'onn. He could have but didn't. He's doing exactly what he did to me, forcing him to grow."
"That's not the worst part. He knew my name. " J'onn spoke again, his voice quieter than before.
"Your alias?" Batman asked, looking towards him immediately.
"No. J'onn J'onzz. My true name in proper Martian pronunciation." J'onn met Batman's gaze.
"Wait, I'm pretty sure that isn't in any database on Earth, right?" Flash said, sitting up straight.
"Correct. That information is only available through League databases that have the strongest encryption available." Batman said, pulling up security logs.
"Could he have accessed League systems?" Superman asked.
"Possible but unlikely. Our security is constantly updated, and any breach would leave a trace. I'm finding nothing." Batman replied, his fingers moving rapidly across his holographic keyboard.
"Then how?" asked Wonder Woman.
"The only answer I can think of is telepathy. But..." J'onn's expression was troubled.
"But?" Batman prompted.
"He didn't try to read my mind. I tried to read his," J'onn said.
The room went very still.
"When he appeared, I attempted telepathic contact to try and understand him. To find his intentions and potentially end the scenario and future ones," J'onn continued.
"And?" Wonder Woman said, her voice tense.
"I encountered not a defence to defend his mind but an overload. His mind is constant...noise. Hundreds of thoughts running simultaneously, all contradicting each other. It was like trying to read a hundred books at once. The only comparable mind I've encountered was...Joker's," he replied.
The reaction was immediate.
"You're saying he's insane?" Superman asked, his expression shifting to concern.
"Not necessarily, but..." J'onn said.
"Then he's more dangerous than we imagined. An intelligent psychopath is the worst kind of threat." Wonder Woman interrupted.
"If his mind operates like the Joker's, then our standard assessments don't apply. He's too unpredictable. That increases his threat level exponentially." Batman said, pulling up files on the Joker and placing them next to Sophist's.
"We need to treat him at the same level of priority then. Assume worst-case scenarios," Superman agreed.
"Yeah, because the Joker with teleportation is exactly the nightmare fuel I needed today," Flash nodded.
The consensus was forming quickly. Sophist was a high-functioning psychopath. Brilliant but unstable and highly dangerous.
"No," Hawkgirl's voice cut through the discussion.
Everyone looked at her. Hawkgirl stood, her wings now partially extended. Her expression was troubled but certain.
"He's not like the Joker," she said firmly.
"You heard J'onn's assessment..." Batman's eyes narrowed.
"I heard it, but I've fought him. Faced all his scenarios and felt restraint. The Joker wants chaos; he doesn't care how many need to die to prove his point. He breaks people for fun. He's sadistic. Sophist is different. He wants to see us grow; he's not after the same thing as Joker," Hawkgirl interrupted.
"He wants growth through torture," Wonder Woman pointed out.
"Through challenge. Brutal, yes. Potentially traumatic, yes. But he's not sadistic. "Hawkgirl countered. "In The Glass Pendulum, he saved a child from killing everyone in that box. He didn't have to do that. If he were anywhere close to the Joker mentally, he wouldn't care and would've just let them all fall and die. He could have killed me when I was at my lowest or let civilians die to increase the scale. He didn't. Every single time he gave me a path, while difficult and painful, that led to no casualties. I don't trust him, and I don't forgive him, but I don't think he's the lunatic you're comparing him to."
"Okay, but that's almost worse? At least we understand what the Joker wants to a vague degree, but this guy wants a twisted hero bootcamp, apparently? We still have no clue why," Flash replied.
"Exactly," Batman said quietly.
"He can target any of us," Superman said.
"Yes. He can also design scenarios specifically catered towards us," Batman confirmed.
"Then we need to find him now, before he has time to prepare scenarios for the rest of us," Wonder Woman replied.
"Agreed. But understand we're not after your typical villain. He's someone with similar intelligence to mine," Batman said.
J'onn had stayed quiet during the discussion, standing apart from the rest. He moved towards the window and looked down at Earth, the window showing his troubled expression in his reflection.
"He's building profiles on all of us," Batman said.
"That still doesn't tell us why," Superman asked.
"I don't know why," Batman replied.
That was the worst part. They understood the method and his capabilities but still had no idea why. What was he preparing them all for?
What did he see coming that required Earth's heroes to be pushed past their limits and become stronger? Or was it as simple as entertainment to him?
"We need more information," Wonder Woman said.
"Agreed. I'm implementing new security protocols. If he tries to access League systems, we'll know. I'm also flagging everything that matches his pattern," Batman replied.
"What about the rest of us? Do we just wait around for him to create our own personal torture games?" Flash asked.
"No. We prepare. Identify your capabilities and weaknesses, because he most definitely will," Batman said.
Hawkgirl's wings folded tighter against her back. She knew what it felt like to know someone was out there preparing the perfect trap for you.
"Meeting adjourned. But stay alert. He's expanding his targets; the question is who will be next," Batman said.
The others filed out, J'onn remaining at the window, still looking at the Earth. Sophist had now entered his life and started to torment him.
Now all he could do was wait for the next time.