"Alright, he's gone. How much longer are you planning to soak in there?" Injustice Superman tapped the jar and said.
Injustice Batman, who had kept his eyes tightly shut all the while, suddenly opened them. His figure flickered momentarily, and he appeared outside the jar, his entire body wet and leaving a puddle on the ground.
"Such a nuisance," Injustice Batman said through clenched teeth, "Don't let me find out who brought him here."
"Whew—" Injustice Superman used a gentle frozen breath to dry Injustice Batman and then, with a frown, said, "Did he go back to get reinforcements? We're not really going to have a whole bunch of Batmen come attacking our universe, are we?"
"That's unlikely. After all, you just imprisoned me and mind-controlled me. Although it may seem like a ghost story to Batman, they still have to deal with the multiverse invasion and don't have time to worry about me for now."
"Let's hope so." Injustice Superman gave a cold snort but then added, "I saw him trembling. Is he afraid of me?"
"Yes, but also no." Injustice Batman shook his head, "In fact, I don't think you can defeat him; he knows that too, not to mention those ridiculously strong Batmen. He might just be... a nightmare come true."
"What do you mean?" They walked together through the teleportation portal, side by side.
"Batman is human; he experiences fear too. And among the things he's most afraid of is Superman suddenly going crazy. It's just that Clark Kent has been too good to him, leaving him lacking in imagination about what Evil Supermen might do to him. Today, you've certainly given him a taste."
"What do you mean?"
"For Batman, death is not the worst outcome. Although it's not a release, it's still an ending he can accept. The most terrifying prospect is losing himself, being used, becoming an accomplice to evil. And if Superman were the one doing this, Batman might truly be scared into having nightmares."
"Why do I have a bad feeling?"
"Of course, and you'll soon face some tough battles."
Injustice Superman paused, watching as Injustice Batman walked out of the office. He was still puzzled. If he were willing to use his super intellect at this moment, he might be able to fend off the furious blow from Main Universe Superman ten minutes later. But he didn't.
"You bastard!!!!" Main Universe Superman's roar reverberated in the skies.
It was then Injustice Superman realized: the Batmen might indeed be too busy to come after him, as they're responsible for the multiverse; but Superman is different. It's still not time for the Supermen to act yet, but no Superman can accept such an event happening.
Injustice Superman was punched and sent flying, landing heavily on the roof of the White House. Then he felt someone gripping him, rushing into the cosmos at a speed infinitely close to the speed of light, and then being punched into the Sun.
The furious attack from Main Universe Superman was difficult to predict. Injustice Superman, aside from feeling like he was about to fall apart, even felt the Sun behind him was about to break apart.
"Damn Batman!" Injustice Superman cursed in his heart but still pressed the button on the communicator on his arm. He couldn't possibly defeat Main Universe Superman, especially with the other in a kind of cosmic explosion state. If Batman doesn't come to save him soon, he could really be beaten to death.
A few seconds later, Injustice Batman appeared in front of Main Universe Superman. His body shimmered with magical glow, but it seemed insignificant under the brilliance of the Sun.
On the verge of delivering another punch, Main Universe Superman suddenly restrained his strength, but when he realized why Injustice Batman was here, he roared at Injustice Superman, "How dare you?! How dare!!!"
Injustice Superman realized too: Main Universe Batman assumed he had controlled Injustice Batman, and Main Universe Superman would certainly also think it was him controlling Injustice Batman to come save him.
He suddenly realized he had stepped into an enormous trap. Now, regardless of what Injustice Batman does, everyone else would think it was him controlling Injustice Batman.
If Injustice Batman were to go and do something nasty in the multiverse, wouldn't he take the full blame?!
Damn, should have known he wasn't up to any good!
However, Injustice Batman's arrival indeed rendered Main Universe Superman cautious. He extended his fist but didn't dare to punch down; he wanted to reach out and grab Injustice Batman but feared that if Injustice Superman was controlling Injustice Batman to resist, and he didn't measure his strength well, it might cause harm, so he held back furiously, his face shifting from pale to flushed.
Injustice Batman, meanwhile, didn't explain, just stood there looking vacant and lacking intelligence, clearly appearing to be under control. His acting was quite good. Injustice Superman thought resentfully.
"Why are you doing this?!" Main Universe Superman asked as he looked at Injustice Superman, "How can you treat Batman like this? How can you bring yourself to do it?!"
Injustice Superman opened his mouth. He knew the typical Superman reveres Batman highly, because he used to be the same way. If Batman said the Earth was flat, he would actually try to give the Earth some edges.
Now that Main Universe Batman told him he had controlled the Batman of his universe, he was defiant in the belief, especially since he just saw the evidence. Explaining was certainly useless now.
That's why they say even rabbits bite when cornered, and Superman under pressure also uses his super intellect. Injustice Superman took a deep breath, striving to maintain his cold and serious expression, and then said, "He blocked my way, Clark. He shouldn't have come to hinder me."
Injustice Superman very clearly felt that Injustice Batman cast a surprised glance at him from a place Main Universe Superman couldn't see, making him angry enough to want to turn around and punch him, but he managed to hold back.
"Even so, you can't... Can't you just talk to him properly?"
"Isn't this the worst outcome, right? Do you think I don't want to choose a better outcome? But he doesn't want to cooperate."
"You can't do this! It's wrong! It's too evil! Batman is your friend and ally, even if there have been some conflicts, you can't treat him this way!"
"I think you've misunderstood something." Injustice Superman flew a bit closer, and in the firelight of the Sun, he looked at Main Universe Superman and said, "The one blocking my path has never been Batman; it's been Bruce Wayne."
"What?"
"You're too impulsive, Clark. If you'd have read my bill properly before throwing a punch, you'd understand why I'm doing this. But maybe it's not too late. You can choose to maintain this anger and find more people to confront me; or you can stay calm and, with the attitude of a professional journalist, seek out the truth. What's your choice?"
Injustice Superman again felt Injustice Batman in the darkness gave him a look of approval. He rolled his eyes heavily in his mind, thinking, how stupid could the counterparts in other universes be?
Main Universe Superman's spirit gradually dimmed. He started to feel a bit doubtful because he knew not all Batmen were good, such as the type like Mad Laugh and Night Owl. Though mind control is a bit much, it could barely be considered deserving. What if this universe's Batman is like that?
"What policies did you implement?" he asked.
"It's all written in the 'Kent Bill'. There's one right on my desk if you're interested, you can take a look."
Main Universe Superman flew skeptically towards Earth. To him, Injustice Superman could run to the monastery but not run from the temple; he couldn't possibly avoid returning to Earth, so naturally, a short moment wouldn't matter.
Actually, he was already quite surprised by the fact of Superman as president, and Primary Universe Batman seemed to highly acknowledge his governance abilities. Even knowing he mind-controlled Batman didn't significantly lower his appraisal, which was quite strange.
When anger subsided, curiosity rose. Main Universe Superman flew to the President's Office in the White House, picked up a thick stack of bills, and started reading.
But in reality, there's no need to read closely. He flipped a few pages whimsically and let out an exclamation: "A top-level income tax of 96%??"
He looked at the bill, looked at Injustice Superman who'd just flown in, and then looked at the bill again, as if he didn't recognize English, carefully pointing at those few numbers and counted them all over again.
"Are you serious?!" he couldn't help but ask.
Injustice Superman just looked at him blankly. But actually, he also marveled internally: "Brainiac is really ruthless. I guess that's why those outside of my race have different minds."
"Did you really collect it?" Main Universe Superman asked again.
Injustice Superman didn't speak, just pointed outside the window. Main Universe Superman didn't see anything outside, so he walked over to take a look, and then saw an aircraft carrier—a space carrier.
"NASA's latest achievement." Injustice Superman said indifferently, "But it's only worth three Los Angeles estates."
Aside from that striking huge object, Main Universe Superman also noticed that the roads near the White House seemed completely widened, and the green coverage had increased by more than double. He flew out from the window and looked over the entire Washington, even the whole East Coast, discovering America seemed to have turned into an infrastructure powerhouse overnight; almost every place's infrastructure was being renovated.
Superman is a Metropolitan Person, doesn't he know what Metropolis is like? One of America's top developed cities, it takes three years to repair a leaking subway entrance, doesn't work well within two months after repair. He couldn't remember how many times he'd been soaked catching the subway to work.
When he flew back, Main Universe Superman became somewhat silent. But he still frowned at Injustice Superman and said, "But these are two separate matters. Even if you're a good president, you can't treat your friends this way, seriously."
"I've said, the one blocking my path has never been Batman. A street hero can't stop me from transforming the Earth, but Bruce Wayne is different. How much has he taken from people?"
Main Universe Superman pursed his lips tightly. Seizing the moment, Injustice Superman drew even closer, almost face-to-face with Main Universe Superman, then slightly tilted his head and said in his ear, "What if I said Batman was willing?"
Main Universe Superman clenched his fist suddenly, turned his head to glare at him, but only found composure on Injustice Superman's face. His fist slowly relaxed, but his fingertips started to tremble.
He suddenly thought, when Primary Universe Batman spoke of these matters, he didn't meet his gaze. That's abnormal; he always makes eye contact, but this time he didn't.
Main Universe Superman took a deep breath and said, "No, even if he's willing, you should have stopped him. You shouldn't have let him do this."
"Why?"
Main Universe Superman seemed to want to say something, but as if recalling something, he just looked at Injustice Superman silently, turned around, and left.