The World Is Fair

A cold steel cage built from unfeeling metal.

The noodle-thin alien opened his mouth.

"I've lived here ever since I was born." He spread his arms, cupping the red light pouring down from above.

He seemed to be bathing in the red glow, as though he were holding the only thing that had accompanied him as he grew up.

"There was always cold iron around me, and countless instruments."

"They wanted to keep me like livestock, use me as a lab rat. I might not have any strength, but... my brain still learned their language easily."

Heavy dark circles hung beneath his lifeless little eyes. Noodle Superman raised his head and saw Li Zu smiling.

"This isn't fair, is it?" he asked.

From the moment he was born, he had been imprisoned, unable to leave this room bathed in red light, just like a lab rat.

No human rights, no freedom, not even sunlight.

"Looks like I was wrong. How disappointing."

Li Zu pressed his right hand against the isolation glass, seemingly regretful.

"What?" Noodle Superman was puzzled by Li Zu's words. "What were you wrong about?"

"You're not a god. You're human."

"Me? If I really were human, why would they imprison me here?" Noodle Superman pointed at the barred isolation wall.

He was merely a trapped beast, a weak trapped beast.

Bzzzt—!

The red light behind him suddenly lit up.

At the same time, an alarm sounded, followed by an impatient man's voice.

"C2 Squad has lost contact! I repeat, all members of C2 Squad have lost contact! A spy has infiltrated the restricted zone. Initiate internal lockdown. Eliminate all suspicious individuals!"

"Looks like it's time for me to go." Li Zu pointed at the flashing alarm light behind him. "We'll meet again if we get the chance."

Noodle Superman remained curled up in the corner, watching Li Zu's back grow more distant.

At the obtuse bend in the corridor, Li Zu suddenly stopped.

His voice came low and grave.

"This world is fair, though it may be hard to accept."

Hearing that, Noodle Superman raised his head and waited for him to continue.

"Whether they're good people or bad... rain falls on their heads all the same."

His figure departed, leaving only Noodle Superman sitting in the red light, lost in thought.

Batman held up binoculars as he hid behind a reef.

The waves had soaked his cape. Dripping water followed his heels, leaving a trail across the ground.

"This is the place?"

Barry asked.

Squad after squad of fully armed soldiers patrolled the area, their expressions stern and their weapons loaded.

At the slightest disturbance, they would surely sweep the area with a barrage of bullets first.

"No. Someone has already infiltrated this place." Cyborg closed his eyes. The military base's computer systems were as good as defenseless before him.

"A squad of soldiers vanished under strange circumstances. It seems to have been a spy."

"Then let's charge in and save him!" Barry took a running stance. The Speed Force coiled around his arms and calves, lightning bursting through the air around him.

A delayed boom tore through the air as the squad of soldiers standing guard ahead was knocked to the ground by a red blur.

Batman, Cyborg, and Flash broke in without resistance. Perhaps they also had that spy to thank for drawing away attention and preventing them from facing too much opposition.

Boom!

Cyborg's hand transformed into a cannon, smashing through the reinforced iron door and then tearing through three more walls before they finally reached a red room.

Inside the room, a thin, frail man was curled up in the corner.

"Kal-El, we're here to save you!"

Though his friend from the Flashpoint world was gaunt and haggard, Flash recognized her at a glance.

"Cyborg, break the wall!"

"Of course, as you wish! Stand back!" Cyborg's left hand began to transform as energy compressed and gathered at a single point.

After the explosion, the wall was torn apart.

Flash supported Noodle Superman as they walked out.

"We can talk later. Let's get you out of here first." Flash looked at the skinny, powerless Noodle Superman and noticed that he had kept his head lowered, saying nothing.

Maybe he had been locked up for too long.

Flash comforted himself. No matter how strange Superman was acting, Superman was still Superman.

"We need to fall back!" Cyborg shouted. "Military reinforcements are here. Looks like they really value this place! I heard they've deployed two destroyers, along with air support!"

"Move!"

The four fought as they retreated, with Cyborg's firepower temporarily holding the upper hand.

At last, they made it out of the military base.

Sunlight fell upon Noodle Superman's body for the first time. He closed his eyes.

"So this is sunlight. This is the sea. This is... ah!!" Noodle Superman shoved Flash away and clutched his head in agony.

Without the suppression of red stellar radiation, his super-hearing instantly received an overwhelming flood of information.

The crashing waves, the wind, the sound of beach sand being blown about,

The flapping wings of seagulls, fish moving their gills beneath the sea, the swaying of seaweed in the current,

From far to near, every sound flooded into Noodle Superman's mind at once.

"Ah!!"

He clutched his head and curled up like a cooked red shrimp.

By then, the destroyers had already stopped on the sea, and several fighter jets were even flying low overhead!

The pressure from the planes' passing winds made Batman's cape snap loudly.

First came a rain of bullets,

Then came the missile strike,

In the blink of an eye, the sky turned dark!

"Ah!!"

Noodle Superman knelt on the ground and opened his eyes.

The sun bestowed even more gifts upon him. Scalding energy poured from his pupils.

Two red beams,

Swept across the sky and struck the missiles and bullets.

Explosions spread across the heavens, setting the clouds ablaze in fiery red.

The combined assault of the destroyers and fighter jets was destroyed in an instant!

The sea wind carried scorching heat, stinging everyone's faces.

"Carl, they're only soldiers. Don't hurt them!" Flash shouted in warning.

Noodle Superman's weak yet excited voice rang out. "The world is fair. Everything humanity does is meaningless to this world. The universe does not care about life, death, or order. The universe has been chaotic and disorderly from the beginning. Only by casting aside the meaningless rules made by humanity can one achieve true freedom!"

"Ah!!"

More yellow stellar energy poured into him, leaving Noodle Superman with even less control over his body.

Noodle Superman clutched his head in agony. He tried to cover his eyes with his hands, but red beams leaked through the gaps between his fingers.

In an instant, the rays split into more than a dozen streams, turning the fighter jets in the sky into fireworks, blasting apart the destroyers, and even flattening the military base!

On the sea,

Flash grabbed Steel Bone with his left hand and Batman with his right, nimbly leaping and dodging one Heat Vision blast after another.

When the indiscriminate attack finally stopped, the three had barely breathed a sigh of relief before Noodle Superman was already floating in the air.

He spread his arms, trying to embrace the yellow star.

"You shouldn't be disappointed. I'm a god!" Noodle Superman's voice was frenzied.

"Carl, we..." Flash had just wanted to speak with Noodle Superman when he saw her shatter the sound barrier and shoot straight out of the atmosphere.

"Looks like the helper you found doesn't want to help us after all." Cyborg shrugged helplessly.

The military base had been ground flat. Only the three of them had narrowly escaped disaster.

"Batman, what's wrong?" Cyborg noticed that Thomas Wayne was in an odd state.

It was not because Thomas was being carried in his arms like a princess.

It was for another reason. Cyborg advised him, "Even if that noodle-thin guy has left, we can still head to the battlefield and rely on ourselves! You know everyone needs your mind more."

The three returned to the island.

"No, what he said just reminded me of someone."

Batman said after his feet touched down.

"Someone who worships chaos."

"Maybe being imprisoned for so long left him with some psychological scars." Flash took over, shaking his head to throw the green-haired figure from his mind.

How could a Superman who had been locked up here for years possibly know Joker?

Batman bent down and picked up a tiny toy plastic figure, no bigger than a pinky, from the seawater.

"Toyman was here."