"Did he say he would come back? Really? Did he say it himself? Are you sure you didn't mishear? When?"
The Joker leaned closer to Barbara, his pale face covered with cracks and blood stains, yet he was smiling happily, his eyes full of excitement.
"Ah, he told me to return to Gotham and wait for him. He didn't specify the time, but there aren't many people in the Hall of Justice, why don't we ambush there?"
Barbara leaned against the railing beside her, answering the Joker's question while pressing down on the slightly swollen skin on her palm, which looked like a big blister.
The Joker sniffed and raised his hand to wipe his face: "Without him in Gotham, he's not Batman, you don't understand! I only want the Bat!"
"Alright, you're the boss, you decide. So, what should we do next?"
Barbara showed a strange smile, extending her long tongue to lick the corner of her mouth.
The Joker jumped onto a park bench nearby, not minding the wet wood at all. Instead, he happily looked up at the dark clouds in the sky, where Batman's mark was becoming more apparent.
"You return to the Hall of Justice, I'll have Bane and the butterflies create some commotion, you need to ensure Batman arrives for our show."
"Alright, but I need an excuse, an excuse to disobey orders."
Barbara touched her neck and straightened the hair on her head.
The Joker fell silent, his gaze gradually deepening before bursting into laughter as if he heard a joke.
"An excuse, of course, an excuse, let me think, uh, what to use, there are so many excuses." He wiped his tears, pulled his hair back, and stuffed his fingers into his mouth mumbling: "Of course, a letter, a letter from an old friend, perfect, he won't refuse!"
He took out a purple envelope from his pocket, glanced at the letter inside, satisfiedly put it back, and licked the envelope to seal it with his tongue.
Then he unexpectedly pulled out a gun and shot Barbara in the shoulder.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
Barbara looked down at her shoulder, letting the blood flow out: "You ruined my uniform and skin, you'll have to pay extra."
"Without doing this, he will never believe it, won't trust, haha." The Joker put away his gun, pressed the envelope to Barbara's wound, smearing a lot of blood on it, then tossed it into her arms: "Go, deliver the letter, hurry."
Barbara sighed, turned to leave, the Joker really does whatever comes to his mind, luckily she has self-healing ability.
"Wait, hold on a second." The Joker suddenly chased after her, looking seriously into her eyes: "He'll come, right? He surely will, right?"
The woman nodded and walked quickly away, leaving behind only the sound of insane laughter.
Not far from them, another Barbara was tied to a tree with a heap of black chains, her mouth gagged with a dirty rag.
At her feet were countless red detonators, with their ticking clock forming a continuous noise, the red 'logs' almost covering her waist, from a distance resembling a medieval witch-burning stake.
She struggled nervously, but the Joker had tied her up with chains almost like a ball of yarn, making escape impossible.
This must be a trap set by the Joker, it surely must be, Batman should definitely not come!
................
"They discovered it etched on the stone slabs of the Primordial World, drawn in the caves, echoing through thousands of different worlds in thousands of different appearances."
Star Hero clutched his head, where it was evidently struck by something, a bump had swollen up.
Batman squinted his eyes, standing before Star Hero like a dark stump, only his cold voice proving he was alive: "It?"
"The truth, the truth you seek." Star Hero grew a bit anxious, the story he told simultaneously conveyed to Ron by the Steward on Senagang Star.
"Continue."
Batman crossed his arms, looking down at Star Hero, while Deathstroke was at the door, head down, playing with his black giant sword.
"It's a myth, describing our universe, where an omnipotent cosmic mother shaped it into its present survival-of-the-fittest state. It's the eternal cosmic story, dark and dangerous, born never to be destroyed, narrating her and her fall."
"Like Static Force, Invisible Light, Power of Life, Dark Magic," Batman stated, posing the question affirmatively.
"Yes, and now all of these have fallen into Luthor's hands." Star Hero confirmed with urgency in his eyes, looking at Batman: "It's called the Dark Creation Power, the Maltus Star People's ancestors, today known as the Watchmen who established the Lantern Group, integrated, crushed, researched, and prepared to cover up everything about this secret. This power should never be wielded by anyone."
"Except for the Power of Life, the other three originate from outside the Origin Wall." Batman nodded slightly, so...
"Yes, Papetua is sealed outside the Origin Wall, where the giant statues on the Origin Wall guard her from breaking through, your key 'Transcend' and Luthor's key 'Destruction,' once fully charged and merged, will completely activate her, she will surely reveal the true world once again."
Star Hero spoke with a heavy tone, and in just a few sentences seemed to have exhausted his energy entirely.
......................
"If she does that, will our world, and ourselves, be extinguished like a bubble?"
Ron tried his best to ignore the sounds of battle overhead, gripping the Steward's hand tightly as he asked this through the Mind Network.
She nodded: "Just like after my death, everything on Senagang Star will vanish, your understanding is correct."
"I thought... our symbols originate from Mars, the seven vertical lines represent upward positivity..." Ron shook his head in disbelief.
"You could say that, because they once roamed freely in the world, exerting terrifying effects... however, whether it's the activity of these seven great forces or their positivity... for us as insignificant beings, it's never a good thing, the Cosmos they strive to create is not the Cosmos we know now..."
"So they are trapped outside the wall with the so-called Goddess." Ron nodded.
The White Martian tried to lift her head; she might have been a violent monster once, but now she was just a dying old woman. She patted Ron's hand: "Don't let the door handle key complete its charge, don't let them merge, the Goddess in the depths of darkness will obliterate everything, refilling the Cosmos with Chaos."
"What should I do?"
"Papetua has a super army named 'Great Legion,' which formed the basis of her rule over a previous Cosmos. They are terrifying monsters, created from combined human and martian genes."
"You mean?"
"Yes, when Papetua was last expelled, her legion was divided, Earthlings inherited the monsters' telekinesis, but their bodies were frail. Martians inherited the physical power she bestowed, yet feared any form of passionate fire because of it."
"But the Martian who's afraid of fire is only me..." Ron's thought transmission was only halfway when he suddenly realized, terror appeared on his face.
The White Martian nodded imperceptibly: "Yes, you've been marked by Papetua, destined for a future role; otherwise, why was it only you who survived among the Green Martians back then?"
"No!!!"
Ron held his head, unable to accept his destiny always being controlled by others.
....................
"Arthur originally harbored life's power within him, which actually should be energy from outside the Origin Wall." Batman nodded silently, quickly calculating something: "Ron has been targeted, we should find him and bring him back."
Megan clenched her small fists, excitedly fluttering around: "Did you see what defeated Papetua last time and how she was isolated outside the Origin Wall?"
Star Hero shook his head, clearly uninterested in answering the question. He could now see many things, at least key places within the Cosmos, but from one perspective, it was Papetua who allowed him to see them.
Her intentions were still unknown, how could she possibly show others her weaknesses?
Batman simply was not concerned with Megan's question; he thought deeper, contemplating even more.
"Megan, contact Barry and Clark, and come back, we're going to Senagang." With that, he turned his gaze towards Deathstroke: "Diana has other matters to attend to, so you'll take over her tactical position."
"Of course, no problem."
Almost as soon as the words were spoken, The Flash and Superman appeared in the room. Compared to Barry, who was busy drinking water and resting, Clark's condition was obviously not so great.
He had been tormented by Zhen Hai before, then kept busy and almost fallen into Luthor's Kryptonite trap; truly a busy day.
Luthor had technology transcending the whole Cosmos in the field of artificial Kryptonite, even Darkseid didn't have such technology, yet Luthor could already mass-produce Green Kryptonite.
He never gave up targeting Superman, if given a chance, he'd surely intend to pave Earth with Kryptonite tiles.
It's said this research was inspired by Hal, the mischievous Green Lantern Hero once materialized Kryptonite using his Willpower and Lantern Ring, which greatly inspired Luthor. Even now, Batman still hasn't figured out how Luthor did it.
Maybe if asked, he might calmly reply like Batman would—"Because I am Lex Luthor."
"Barry, Clark, if you're still able, we must head to Senagang Star now."
Barry, hanging out with Deathstroke, shrugged his shoulders complainingly: "Can't I just have a few seconds to eat something?"
Star Hero stood up with a smile, drawing a pentagram in the air, directly connecting to Senagang's location, this ability was given to him by the energy within his mind.
"You'd better hurry, I can't maintain it for long, I haven't eaten anything since 1968, this trick really drains stamina."
"Oh? Why not eat?" Barry and Deathstroke walked side by side towards the pentagram-shaped Teleportation Gate, asking curiously.
Behind them were Superman and Batman, and lastly Megan and Star Hero himself.
He showed a weathered smile, touching his head: "I suppose it's because I died that year."
Barry: "...."