"Ah, hot, hot!" The moment the teleportation ended, Deadpool sprang up and began doing the can-can on the spot, as though that would distribute the heat more evenly across both feet. "Rescue, rescue me, Cousin! My shoe soles are about to melt!"
The plaza before the Hall of Justice had become a massive lava pool. Red-black fluid bubbled within it, occasionally bursting apart from violent tremors and sending tongues of flame shooting into the sky.
The city had long since become ruins. Thanks to Superman's Rescue, most of the residents should have survived, but today would still likely bankrupt countless insurance companies.
In places like Gotham and Star City, insurance companies generally did not offer policies at all, because losses there were practically guaranteed.
But Metropolis and Washington D.C. had once been relatively safe places where almost nothing happened. Naturally, insurance companies had been willing to place bets in such "relatively" controllable-risk areas.
The facts had proven that decision correct. Earth-0 had endured countless major events; it was always Gotham or New York that got unlucky, requiring citywide reconstruction at the drop of a hat. Metropolis, aside from the time Superman fought General Zod and damaged a few skyscrapers, had always been fine.
"Meow-ho-ho, so stupid. If you're afraid your soles will melt, why not stand on your head?" Kitty lay on Deathstroke's shoulder. Without nostrils, it was unaffected by the sulfurous smell, and it cheerfully offered advice. "If you only use your feet, you can't switch fast enough. But if you use all four limbs, wouldn't the pressure be cut in half again?"
"I have a feeling you're tricking me." Deadpool kept doing high knees while eyeing Kitty warily. "If we count my left butt cheek and right butt cheek too, does that mean the pressure is only one-sixth