Damian's eyelids twitched suddenly.
His first reaction was to raise his hand and slap the large hand on the top of his head. This was an instinct ingrained in his bones; he would never allow anyone to touch the top of his head, for that meant obedience and submission.
But he held back.
Not out of fear, Damian Wayne had never even known the word "fear."
It was because the hole in his abdomen that should have killed him had now healed completely, leaving no scar.
The warmth of the golden potion flowing through his body hadn't yet dissipated, and his internal organs were filled with a power he had never experienced before, as if someone had disassembled his body and reassembled it with better materials.
Damian understood the rule of owing a life.
and...
He glanced at his father furtively.
Bruce Wayne stood to the side, his face beneath the mask offering no rebuttal, suggesting that the identity of "Grandpa" was most likely genuine.
"... Hmph..." Damian snorted, neither admitting nor denying, and just stood there awkwardly.
Thor smiled and withdrew his hand.
This little brat is a carbon copy of Bruce, all talk and no action.
"Enough with the small talk," Batman's voice broke the silence, his tone returning to its usual cold hardness. "We need to discuss our next move."
He raised his left arm, and a holographic projection of the Bat-Armor popped up a diagram of the multiverse.
In the image, the sphere of light representing the Prime Universe is being entangled by countless black tentacles, slowly sliding downwards into the abyss known as the Dark Multiverse.
" Barbatos's goal was clear from the beginning—to drag the entire Light Universe into the Dark Multiverse. Cyborg Victor is key; the Mother Box within him can act as an anchor between the two universes."
Batman's gaze swept over everyone present. "I already sent Hawkman Carter and Hawkgirl Kendra to carry out the rescue. Based on the timeline, they should—"
His words trailed off.
The communication channel on the armor lit up briefly, then went out.
Batman frowned, his fingers rapidly swiping across the panel to bring up Hawkman's communication signal.
Location tracking shows: Signal source located in the ruins of Gotham City... signal lost.
It wasn't fading, it was cut off cleanly and decisively, like someone extinguishing a candle.
" Bruce." Diana's voice deepened; she understood the fleeting expression on Batman's face.
" Hawkman and Hawkgirl have lost contact." Batman said this in a flat voice, but his knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the holographic panel.
" The Batman Who Laughs." Thor leaned against a broken rock, arms crossed, uttering the name as if he were commenting on the weather.
"A fusion of Batman and the Joker, with Carter and Kendra in his hands, the situation isn't looking too good."
He spoke casually, but everyone present who had ever fought the Batman Who Laughs fell silent.
That thing possesses all of Bruce Wayne's intelligence and all of the Joker's madness, a monster that laughs as it tears your most cherished possessions to pieces.
Barry Allen had just run back, still covered in golden arcs of electricity.
Upon hearing this news, he paused for a moment.
"Wait... what about Victor? What if Barbatos controls the anchor point—"
He didn't finish his sentence.
The sky has cracked open.
The gray sky above really looked like a mirror that had been smashed by a heavy hammer, with a huge crack running from east to west.
The depths of the rift are not the darkness of the universe, but a kind of... living darkness, writhing, breathing, peering out.
"Puff--"
A hand reached out from the crack.
That hand had seven fingers, each with a human face on its tip. The facial features were twisted in different directions, and all fourteen eyes were staring at the heroes on the ground.
"Holy crap! What the hell is this?!" Roy Harper looked up, nearly dropping the bow from his hand.
More things crawled out of the cracks—nightmare aggregates of various shapes, some like humanoid spiders stretched to thirty meters long; some like a mass of flowing, rotting teeth; and some were simply walking mirrors reflecting everyone's deepest fears.
Constantine stubbed out his cigarette in his palm, hissing from the heat, but his expression remained unusually clear.
"Everyone, we're running out of time." He turned to look at Zatanna, the black-haired female mage who was forming hand seals, sensing the chaotic magical field around her, her forehead covered in sweat.
" The Light Universe is being dragged into the Dark Multiverse," Zatanna's voice was strained, "Like being pulled underwater; we're already halfway underwater. If Barbatos completes this..."
"Then we'll have to fight him on his own turf," Constantine finished her sentence for her, his tone carrying a dark humor characteristic of the United Kingdom in the face of impending doom.
"In the Dark Multiverse, the odds of defeating its creator are probably... well, let's finish this whiskey first, there probably won't be another one."
Batman ignored his nonsense.
He was thinking.
All plans—meticulous, multi-layered, and with redundancies—are no longer applicable.
Hawkman and Hawkgirl have been intercepted, Victor is still in enemy hands, the universe is collapsing, and with every second that passes, Barbatos ' power increases.
There's no time to take a detour.
"Straight to the heart of the enemy." He spoke, his voice not loud, but all eyes turned to him.
"Go straight to Barbatos and hold it back. If we can prevent it from completing its dragging of the Light Universe, we still have a chance to turn the tide."
He turned to Constantine and Zatanna: "Portal, open to Gotham, Challengers Mountain."
Constantine looked at him like he was crazy. "Dude, didn't you hear what I just said? The magic field is like it's been churned by a mixer. If I were to open a portal in this state, the exit might be the core of the Sun, or it might be 20,000 meters below the surface of an ocean trench."
Zatanna shook her head, her expression bitter. "He's right, Bruce, all the spatial anchors are broken. I can't guarantee precise positioning."
"I'll do it."
Thor stood up from the rock.
He casually tapped a few times on the projection panel on the left arm of his armor, his movements as casual as swiping his phone, completely out of place with the apocalyptic atmosphere.
"Buzz--"
Space tore open a neat, circular gap in front of him.
Through that door, you can clearly see the view on the other side— the Gotham City skyline, the massive, half-ruined research facility on Challengers Mountain, and the churning black storm clouds overhead.
Constantine nearly dropped his cigarette from the corner of his mouth.
He stared at the rock-solid spatial portal, then looked at the remnants of the magic circle he had tried to calibrate for so long without success, and finally took out a new cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
"Fine," he said. "I fucking thank you, Old Bat, for being so kind as to send us to our deaths."
Batman wasted not a single second.
"Listen up, everyone." He placed his palm on the chest of his silver-gold armor, and golden Element X seeped from beneath his palm, which he precisely divided into orbs of light of varying sizes.
Superman is doing the same thing on the other side.
" Element X is effective against Barbatos and all creations of the Dark Multiverse. I'm now distributing it to everyone—cover your most comfortable gear."
The orbs of light flew out one after another.
Diana reached out and caught it; golden energy enveloped her Sword of Hephaestus and Divine Shield, and etched golden patterns appeared on the blade.
Aquaman Arthur gripped his trident tightly, the Element X flowing up the shaft, the tips of the three prongs shining with a dazzling gold.
Hal received a small ball of pure energy, which he absorbed with his Green Lantern Ring. The entire ring instantly changed from emerald green to the color of jade inlaid with gold.
The Flash's boots were covered with a thin layer of gold film.
Martian Manhunter incorporated the Element X into his shapeshifting body.
Supergirl Kara had it plated on her boxing gloves, and Guardian James ' shield was edged with gold.
Roy looked at the arrow in his hand, which had been enhanced by the Element X, and whistled.
"This thing is even more powerful than Nth Metal?"
"Stop talking nonsense, install it." Thaddeus Ross Wilson dipped his twin blades into the ball of light, and the blades gleamed with a cold golden light.
She's always more efficient at work than at talking.
Speedy Mia, Red Arrow Emiko, Green Arrow Oliver, Nightwing, Mister Terrific, Plastic Man -- everyone received their share.
Even Superwoman Lucy Lane's wristbands now have an extra layer of gold patterns.
Finally, Batman's gaze fell on Grail.
The daughter of the New Gods was holding the infant Darkseid in her arms, leaning on her massive scythe in one hand, and staring at Bruce Wayne with a rather unfriendly gaze.
" Batman," Grail's voice was cold, "I haven't settled accounts with you for stealing Darkseid from me."
Batman stared at her for a few seconds.
"Survive first, then we'll talk."
If they can't even get past Barbatos today, then there's no point in settling scores.
Grail snorted and curled her lips down, but didn't press the matter further.
Batman glanced at the giant scythe in her hand again, and finally reached out and ran his hand along the blade of the weapon.
Golden Element X spread along the arc of the scythe. Grail raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Set off!"
More than twenty figures leaped into the spatial portal one after another.
Thor was the last to leave, closing the door behind him.
The other end.
Gotham.
Or rather, it used to be Gotham.
The asphalt road beneath their feet bulged with strange, ridge-like protrusions, resembling the spine of some enormous creature.
The buildings on both sides were twisted into geometrically indeterminate shapes—right angles became acute angles, windows grew on the inside of the walls, and black, viscous liquid flowed from the door frames, as if the city was bleeding.
In the sky, the top of Challengers Mountain has been pierced by a thick black beam of light.
The beam of light pierced the crack in the sky, connecting the ground to the Dark Multiverse.
"We need—" Batman began.
"Hehehehehehehe--"
A series of faint laughs, not belonging to any normal living being, came from all directions.
First to appear were familiar faces from Gotham. Poison Ivy's body swelled into a three-story-tall tree of flesh and blood, with a screaming human face at the end of each branch.
Dark matter mixed into Clayface's body, transforming it into a living swamp that would devour everything.
The Mr. Freeze no longer emanates ice, but a black chill that can freeze the Soul Stone.
Then there's the Suicide Squad.
Harley Quinn's eyes were completely black, her mouth stretched to her ears, and she was wielding a hammer larger than her body, its surface covered in an unknown black liquid.
Captain Boomerang and Killer Croc —each covered in black markings, with hollow eyes.
Further down the street, a group of young people in uniforms were slowly walking towards them.
Damian's pupils contracted sharply.
Teen Titans.
Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle —his teammates, their eyes reflecting the same darkness as the corrupted villains.
The Raven's Soul Stone had transformed into a gigantic, pure black Raven, hovering in the sky with a wingspan that covered half the street.
"No..." Damian clenched his fists.
Thor stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the scene before him and remarking that none of this had anything to do with the original plot.
At that moment, Batman's voice rang out, short and decisive. " Superman, Diana, Aquaman, Hal —pierce through the enemy lines and head straight for Challengers Mountain! The rest of you, clear the way!"
Before he could finish speaking, the corrupted Poison Ivy had already swung dozens of fleshy branches at them.
Damian drew his sword.
The Raven's shadow swooped down from the sky, and Damian looked up at that all-too-familiar face, his teeth grinding together.
I will definitely rescue you!