Valentine, TEXAS

17 Wonder Girl

Entry Seventeen: The Anatomy of the Justice League

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THE WATCHTOWER
NOVEMBER 25, 2010

The Watchtower was quaint, the atmosphere calming as Wonder Woman watched the Earth glow amid space. Her mind was preoccupied with picking the Justice League's new members and Wonder Girl's plans for retirement. She sighed, realizing she was not alone. "Times like these—one feels the very weight of the world upon us." She muttered, standing alongside Batman and Superman until footsteps were heard behind them. Turning around, they find Aquaman at the entrance.

"Everyone is here."

Wonder Woman had been through this process twice before, voting in people to join the renowned Justice League. It was an offer heroes could not easily refuse, knowing that being in the League was the biggest honour, but the hardest part came down to those gathered in the room as she scanned at the heroes present: the Hawks, the Lanterns, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Flash, Doctor Fate, Captain Atom, Shazam, Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

The shutters slowly crawl down the windows, closing shut as the light dimmed.

"Our agenda is clear. What's at stake should not be underestimated." Aquaman firmly stated, "The decisions we make today will reverberate for years to come." Superman added, "And influence whether or not the world continues to put their trust in the Justice League," she concluded.

"Please, take your seats." Batman instructed, "We have work to do."

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MIDWAY CITY
MARCH 20, 1954

"I know there's work to be done—" Matthew speaks on the phone, his boss on the other end, as he stares at the tiny notebook opened on his side table, feeling groggy after accidentally sleeping in instead of going to work. "I'll clock in tomorrow, you can just deduct my paycheck this month. See you tomorrow, sir." He quickly says before placing the phone back on its hook.

He picks up the notebook, reading its contents and looking to his side——which was now empty. In a hurry, he rushed to the other bedroom, where a crib was placed against the wall while his daughter had slept through the sound of the telephone ringing. He ran a hand over his face, realizing it was now just the two of them. His daughter wasn't close to her first year of birth, just shy of three months old.

Despite his calm demeanour, he wasn't sure how he was able to survive without the mother of his child. It didn't help that they weren't even married——in fact, he wanted that but she didn't——and he wasn't sure how to exactly provide for the two of them when he didn't know where to keep her if he had to leave for his daily job. His mind races as he thinks of who she could stay with.

Within the process of elimination, his immediate family is erased from his mind and narrowed down to his neighbours since they are nowhere near his family in Central City.

Central City was nothing but his past, where his father was taken in by the authorities after his bloodline's curse caught up to him while trying to provide as his mother had gotten sick with a sickness that kept her hospital-bound for months before the arrest. Then, his sister fell in love, having a wedding that only he was invited to after moving further away to National City in California. To an extent, Matthew was alone. He was alone for the longest time, especially when he'd become his mother's sole provider until she passed, he had almost turned to a life of crime, and his awakened abilities were more discreet than his father's.