Arkham Batman hurried to the Prime Universe where all the Batmen were waiting for just him. Primary Universe Batman looked directly at him and asked, "Where have you been? Why are you only coming now?"
"There was an issue in my universe." Arkham Batman sighed, "For the Federation's educational reform, I invited scientists from other universes. Unexpectedly, there was an experimental accident, and Ultron hijacked a mechanical body they created..."
"So your universe had problems too." Primary Universe Batman sighed, "We just found out that Ultron is now massively seizing bodies across the Multiverse, taking away many powerful ones. We're discussing why he's doing this."
Arkham Batman felt a shock in his heart but also a relief. Fortunately, it wasn't just his universe that had issues. If everyone was having problems, then what happened to his wasn't that much of an incident.
Then he heard Primary Universe Batman say, "We suspect Ultron's long-desired lover might have appeared."
Arkham Batman's heart leapt again. No wonder Stark's first explanation involved the birth of that female magical creature. Compared to this, universe destruction seemed trivial.
"Previously, we suspected he might want to create a perfect lover. If nothing unexpected happened, he has succeeded now. But unfortunately, the transformation of life forms has given each individual universe's Ultron autonomy. In order to compete and court, they have to seize bodies to fight other versions of themselves," Batwoman said.
Arkham Batman was thinking about how not to expose his universe's problems while revealing important intelligence to them. After some thought, he said, "Then it's still the previous assumption; this mysterious lover must be stronger than all Ultrons, or she couldn't have such autonomy."
"She doesn't necessarily need to be stronger than all Ultrons, just unmanageable by them," Primary Universe Batman said, "So we suspect she might use magic."
"But that doesn't make sense," Mechanical Batman said, "Ultron can't access magic, how could he create a magician?"
"Then it means this lover wasn't created by Ultron, her creator is someone else," Primary Universe Batman said.
"Are you saying Ultron has an accomplice? But if this accomplice is powerful enough to directly create magical life, why would they help Ultron? And using such a method, what benefits do they gain?" Batwoman asked.
No one else had an answer. Speculating motives was the most troublesome part—because of the various strange and bizarre existences in the Multiverse, each with its own stance, including many unknown chaotic creatures. Their motives are entirely unpredictable, possibly just whimsical. Backtracking the identity from this is impossible.
Soon, the Main Universe Wonder Woman returned to the Primary Universe. She burst into the base, and upon seeing so many Batmen in the room, she made an abrupt stop with a hesitant expression on her face.
"What's the matter, ma'am?" Arkham Batman turned and asked her.
"I've got some situations here." Wonder Woman paused for a moment before saying, "The Wonder Woman of the Injustice League Universe is dead, but the Superman of the Injustice League refuses to admit he did it. The Lasso of Truth confirmed his words. And we found some issues in the Universe of Late-night snacks—want to see this video?"
Wonder Woman took out a communicator and sent the video to Primary Universe Batman. Primary Universe Batman projected the video on the projector. Of course, there wasn't much to see; Night Owl appeared and disappeared in just three seconds.
"What was that blue light?" Primary Universe Batman stroked his chin and said, "It doesn't look like Lantern Corps energy, nor like a technological artifact. Perhaps it's some unfamiliar existence. Things are getting more and more complicated."
Arkham Batman looked at Primary Universe Batman. He trusted Primary Universe Batman's judgment because the primary universe had just finished an interstellar war, even capturing Oa Star. The Blue Lantern Corps might have also participated; Primary Universe Batman must have seen them in action. If he said it's not, then it probably isn't.
Just then, Primary Universe Green Lantern also flew in, clearly called back by Primary Universe Batman. He looked at the video and shook his head, saying, "This is definitely not Lantern Corps power. Blue isn't this color, nor is it used like this. Perhaps it's some kind of teleportation device?"
The Batmen also started discussing: some analyzed the color of the blue rays, others the direction of the source. But they ultimately concluded that it was certainly not existing Batman technology. There was a small possibility that a Batman from some universe came up with such a device, but the probability was not high.
"Do you think the one who rescued Night Owl might be the same person who created the mysterious lover?" Batwoman asked.
The Batmen fell silent for a moment. Primary Universe Batman said, "In any case, what is certain now is that behind Ultron, there is an unknown behind-the-scenes manipulator, lurking within our Multiverse. If we can't find them, then even resolving Ultron won't make the Multiverse safe."
"Who could it possibly be?" Arkham Batman muttered under his breath. But in fact, he already had some guesses.
He opened the Battleworld interface and sent Bruce a message: "Where are you now?"
"I'm vacationing next door; what's up?" Bruce replied quickly. From his quick reply, it's unlikely he would be doing anything serious.
Arkham Batman's hand hesitated while typing. Although he found Bruce suspicious, he didn't have any evidence. For a moment, he didn't know whether dragging him back for questioning or pretending to know nothing and leaving him there was better for his universe.
After hesitating for about half a second, Arkham Batman resolutely chose to play deaf and dumb. As long as he didn't ask, there was no risk of Bruce returning. They'd have a showdown with the neighboring universe sooner or later, so leaving Bruce there to trouble them was more advantageous for him.
Arkham Batman glanced at Primary Universe Batman, who was just operating the Battleworld system too, probably suspecting Bruce but seemingly making the same decision. To prevent Bruce's return, the Batmen very tacitly laid aside their pursuit of the truth.
With Bruce not causing trouble on his side, it was a significant boost; whereas the other side welcomed the arrival of the Nameless Bat, surely leading to chaos. The enemy slowing while he sped up meant the enemy was trapped—where can one find such a good thing?
Arkham Batman feels that even if Bruce hadn't run off, Primary Universe Batman would have definitely kicked him over before the war started. It's practically one of their surefire tricks.
What Arkham Batman doesn't know is that not only Bruce, but the Justice League's big three from his universe have already successfully assembled in the Marvel Prime Universe.
"Over here, Bruce!" Clark calls out from the top of a lighthouse, shouting downward, "Fly over here!"
Bruce, wearing his mecha, flies over to him at top speed. As Bruce approaches, Clark's eyes light up with laser beams, taking out several drones trailing Bruce.
"Diana just arrived," Clark says, "The plan is going smoothly. They're going to have a headache very soon."
Bruce breathes a sigh of relief, then says to the mecha, "Let go of me, JARVIS."
The mecha disassembles. Clark asks curiously, "Is Iron Man's butler controlling it? How did you persuade him?"
"I told him if he dared not listen to me, I would wreck the mecha and fall from the sky to my death. This would likely trigger an immediate war between the two worlds, and The Avengers in this universe are entirely unprepared. For my safety, JARVIS had no choice but to comply."
Clark gives him a thumbs up. As they walk towards the lighthouse, he glances back at the mecha and says, "Leaving it here? What if Iron Man follows the coordinates and comes over?"
"Does he even have the time to deal with me? I've led him around in circles in the New York sky, wasting a lot of his time. With Batman about to attack, he better be rushing to other universes for reinforcements rather than waiting to be beaten."
"Our plan should manage to hold them off for a while." Clark says, crossing his arms.
The night before Bruce set off for the Marvel World, Diana sits at the bar, slightly surprised, and asks him, "Are you really planning to run like this? This isn't like you."
"Are you saying I'm petty? I'm a very forgiving person." Bruce says, swirling his whiskey glass, "Even though that Batman keeps giving me trouble again and again, I'm still willing to forgive him, without any intention of revenge."
"I get it, we're going to handle it, right? You tell me what to do?" Diana says, pressing the glass to her lips, "I also find him annoying. We just want to live peacefully, but he insists on provoking all the time, as if being in the Justice League 24/7 is something grand."
"In fact, from a strategic point of view, we also need to cause them some trouble. Even if the worlds are going to collide, it can't be with full force; that would be too much noise. If the cosmos breaks, we'll have a problem. We need to weaken both sides' combat strength as much as possible to control the situation."
"What do you plan to do?"
"It's hard to say right now. We need to find a way to seize opportunities." Bruce thinks for a moment, then says, "The Batmen's defenses are tight. It's hard to find a chance to disrupt their universe. But Justice League's other members may not be as vigilant. There's always an opportunity."
"So essentially, we'll improvise, right?"
"Exactly. If everything goes as expected, the Prime Universe's Magical Defense Network should be completed first, and the Batmen will be called for a meeting. That might present an opportunity."
Diana nods and says, "After we take care of business, we'll come to that universe to find you."
"That works too. We can just cause more trouble in that world so nobody can focus solely on fighting."
The two clink their glasses, sharing a knowing smile.
In the lighthouse, Clark lights the fireplace. Diana puts sliced bread on the iron rack and inserts it into the fireplace to heat. Bruce sits on the carpet and says, "You timed it well. Although Injustice League Superman claims he's innocent, the Supermen won't believe him. They'll spend a lot of time hunting the Injustice League Superman and won't focus on attacking here."
"And there's also Wonder Woman; she wants to investigate her sister's death more urgently. She'll focus on Injustice League's Superman, and maybe even chase that blue light. The Batmen might ask them both for help, but it's tough to make them the main force."
"They probably won't get the chance." Clark suddenly turns and speaks, "Wonder Woman has a bigger trouble to worry about."
Bruce and Diana both look at him. Clark hands over two drinks and says, "I didn't kill the Injustice League's Wonder Woman."
Diana raises an eyebrow, "Why?"
"If you really killed her, Wonder Woman would never know why so many people want her dead."
Just as he finishes speaking, Diana sees a message push from the Battleworld System—it's three consecutive 60-second voice messages from Main Universe Wonder Woman. Without even opening them, Diana can already imagine the Main Universe Wonder Woman cursing aloud.