Peter rushed into the conference room, finding nearly all the Mutants already there. He pushed through the crowd, seeing Magneto standing in the center of the room, with Cyclops Scott collapsed beside him. However, his chest was slightly rising and falling, indicating he must have fainted.
Peter wanted to ask what was going on but seeing everyone silent, he held back his urge to speak. It wasn't until the figure of Professor X appeared in a wheelchair that the static atmosphere began to stir.
"He's fine," Professor X said, "just overly fatigued recently and overwhelmed by the magnetic field, leading to temporary unconsciousness."
Hearing this, Phoenix rushed forward to cradle him. The members of the X-Men gathered around to help Phoenix lift Cyclops and take him to the rest room bed.
"Go call The Avengers," Magneto spoke up. Although he didn't directly speak to Peter, Peter knew this was directed at him, so he went out to make the call.
Soon after, The Avengers all arrived, even Nick made his way over. Magneto remained in place, lost in thought. The Avengers assumed he was battling an electronic lifeform and dared not approach until roughly ten minutes later, when he slowly turned his head towards them.
"I've been talking to it," Magneto said, "To be precise, it's an accident. Its target isn't us. However..."
No one present could understand what he was saying. Professor X gave Magneto a glance, and Magneto slowly removed his helmet. Peter scoffed at the scene: Who said they weren't romantically involved? Others exchange wedding rings, but you both are exchanging helmets and wheelchairs?
After a brief pause, Professor X said, "It turns out to be more complex. Let's all sit down and discuss slowly."
The members of The Avengers, X-Men, and Mutant Brotherhood took their seats. Apart from Mystique and Rakshasa Woman staying in the rest room watching Cyclops, everyone else sat neatly in three rows.
As Professor X was about to start speaking, a red and blue figure flew in through the window, saying, "I felt a strong energy surge here, are you all alright?"
Peter turned his head to see Superman. Bruce, seated next to Peter, furrowed his brow slightly. Catching this expression, Peter whispered, "Do you not get along with him?"
"It's okay," Bruce shook his head, replying.
"We're fine, but you arrived at a good time," Professor X said, "Since the two Earths have merged, people from your side should know the truth too. Please have a seat, sir."
Superman looked at the crowd of Mutants and Superheroes in the conference room, seeming a bit hesitant. However, seeing Bruce, he chose to approach and sat at the back row. Bruce turned his head away, refusing to look at him.
Peter found it strange: In other universes, Batman and Superman usually have a good relationship, but in this universe, Spider-Man Bruce's relationship with Joker even seems better than his with Superman. Truly a cosmic mystery.
Yet, he refocused his attention on the current case. Professor X said, "Erik intercepted a wave of radio signals, and he'll later feed it into a machine that blocks all external signals to facilitate further communication with it. But that method is inefficient, so Erik chatted with it first."
"I've got a question," Iron Man interjected, "What did he capture? A program or a signal?"
"It's a signal. Not exactly an electronic lifeform but more of a signal organism. This technology is fascinating, far beyond our imagination. Fortunately, Erik happens to restrain it, which is why he could capture it."
"Are you sure it's its main body?" Iron Man asked again.
"Of course not," Professor X shook his head, "but this is its only avatar in our universe."
The conference room buzzed into a frenzy. Captain America said, "As expected. This technology is beyond our universe, even Ultron wasn't at this level. It's indeed related to the Multiverse."
"Where would it come from?" Nick asked Iron Man quietly, "From our side or the neighboring one?"
"Highly likely it's from their side," Iron Man thought for a moment and said, "Our electronic lifeforms don't follow this path, as seen with Ultron. Also, I suspect Batman is involved, their technology is always quite mystical."
"You're not mistaken, Mr. Radio Ghost hails from the big world next door, the one with Batman, but hasn't revealed which specific universe he's from."
"Then why did he come here?" Nick asked with a frown. Once it involves the Multiverse, as S.H.I.E.L.D Director, he must take it seriously, since Multiverse invasions mean work for S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Wait a minute," Peter suddenly spoke, "This is not the neighboring world anymore, we're actually in their world now."
Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then realized: Indeed, although they came from the Marvel World, they were from the old Earth left behind after the reboot, and they came to others' worlds, merging with others' Earth. From the cosmic positioning perspective, they were no longer the Marvel 616 Main Universe but rather the DC Earth One.
"That's why Erik said it was an accident. The guy intended to invade this side of the universe, but we came and merged with this Earth, which it seemed unaware of, so it ended up invading us too."
"No wonder," Peter said, "If it knew our situation here, it definitely wouldn't have chosen to appear on Earth in the form of a signal. Isn't that just walking into Magneto's trap?"
"Exactly," Professor X nodded in agreement, "While it has some understanding of our heroes, it never expected us to collectively come here. And Erik happens to be the one who can restrain it the most, so it got caught."
"But why does it want to invade this side of the Multiverse?"
"That, we don't know," Professor X shook his head, "Its life form differs from ours, so there's no concept of morality or good and evil. What we call invasion might simply be its way of understanding or perceiving the world. It is indeed continuously innovating itself."
Peter suddenly had another insight and said, "So, what it did to Laser Eye was to innovate itself?... Is it exploring desires? Emotions? Love?"
Professor X nodded and said, "Indeed. According to its own words, it wants to evolve into a more perfect life form, so it's trying to fill its voids. As a Radio Ghost converted from an electronic life form, it once existed in pure logic form, so emotions naturally are its shortcoming. Now it wants to compensate for this shortcoming, so it has made many attempts."
"Many?!" Captain America was startled, "Don't tell me Laser Eye isn't the only victim? How many people has it induced?!"
"In our universe, it's indeed only Laser Eye," Professor X said, "but other universes, who knows."
Everyone else turned their gaze to Spider Man Bruce. Although he's Spider Man now, Battleworld seems not to acknowledge, still treating him as Batman, so he's still in Battleworld Batman's group chat.
Spider Man Bruce also opened the group chat at this time, but he quickly shook his head and said, "No news. They haven't chatted for almost a month."
"That's not right," Peter pointed out, "Batman would definitely be very proactive in collecting information about the Multiverse and with such a convenient platform, he wouldn't just stay silent. No chat messages precisely indicate that something went wrong."
Everyone else nodded in agreement, obviously concurring with Peter's view. Spider Man Bruce furrowed his brow and said, "Joker told me that Batman has recently been busy gathering energy to establish an Earth Magic Defense Network, the kind you used to have. Some Batmans have gone to Mount Olympus, others are fighting cosmic wars..."
"No," Peter shook his head again, "Batman is not a reckless person; quite the opposite. He doesn't like to wield excessively powerful power because he believes it could mean increased risk of losing control, not to mention risking killing the gods or triggering a war to acquire such power -- unless he has no choice."
He stood up, looked around, then said, "You know what? The Central Universe, the one frequently visited by other Spider Men, uses a Magic Defense Network that can monitor all energy fluctuations on Earth, completely block Earth signals, and monitor Earth-extraterrestrial communications. The network built by Magic Power is entirely different from other radio waves, unable to connect."
"I get it," Iron Man said, "The reason Batman is so eager to set up a Magic Defense Network might also be because he sensed this Radio Ghost's invasion. They want to use this method to prevent the invasion."
"We have to do something," Nick immediately stood up and said, "If I'm not mistaken, our universe should be the only one that successfully captured the Radio Entity. This is extremely valuable information, which can completely help us establish a foothold in the Multiverse."
Everyone else also exchanged glances and then slowly nodded. They all obviously understood: what advantage their universe had over other universes was that they were the only universe with all the heroes of two major worlds.
Although the fusion indeed caused a lot of chaos, and there are currently various problems, Earth's power is now unprecedentedly strong, and they have the advantage of information -- few in the Multiverse know what's going on in their universe.
Just like the unlucky Radio Ghost, it thought it was only invading DC Earth One, not realizing it also invaded the Marvel 616 Main Universe.
If it were just Earth One, no one could do anything to it. Even the powerful Batmans couldn't handle it, and the super heroes of Earth One would likely be clueless.
But the 616 Main Universe is no pushover. The current 616 is essentially the version before the All-New, All-Different Universe even though the reboot brought the new version ahead of schedule, they've gone through major events before the All-New, All-Different Universe. They fought stronger dragons and vanquished dominating locals, battled aliens, kicked mummies, traveled through time and space hundreds of times, fought civil wars big and small, and every one of them is a seasoned, unparalleled fighter, perfectly complementing Earth One.
And this DC universe started with the New 52, the Main Universe is relatively young, and the major events it's experienced are only Darkseid's invasion and the later cosmic wars; compared with the seasoned 616, they seem like rookies. They may indeed be remnants of a bygone era, but coincidentally, this new ship needs veteran sailors.
For other Batmans, it's their first experience with a Multiverse-level major event, but for the folks from the former Marvel Main Universe, multiverse invasions are all too common. No matter what catastrophe happens over there, it eventually affects the Main Universe, their experience is just too rich.
So they didn't even need to discuss, already knowing what the current situation meant, and almost everyone knew how to fight this battle, just exchanging knowing glances, already knowing what to do next.