Superman's raised hand paused slightly. Although he looked very young and had a lively personality, he was not a novice. On the contrary, he had experienced much more than most people in this universe. He could tell at a glance that this woman was not to be trifled with.
Originally, his plan was to follow the Assassin's Union, fly around the target a couple of times, shout a bit, and then position on the edge during the fight, as long as he participated in the event throughout. This way, it wouldn't seem fake and would show that he really cooperated with the Assassin's Union.
However, given the current situation, even staying on the edge posed high risks. Supreme Little Superman emphasized being flexible and adaptable. He turned around wanting to run, but Scarlet Witch grabbed his cape.
"Why are you running?" Scarlet Witch said unhappily, "Which universe's Superman are you? Instead of learning the good, you only pick up the bad, and now you're even learning to rob? Be careful, or I'll tell your Batman!"
"What a coincidence," Little Superman chuckled cheekily, "I don't have a Batman at my place."
Wanda couldn't be bothered with his nonsense. A massive amount of the power of Scarlet enveloped him, then threw him aside as she focused on dealing with the ninjas, specifically defending and counterattacking.
Seeing their boss captured, the ninjas from the Assassin's Union couldn't back down. One of them flashed up daring to get in Scarlet Witch's face. Wanda also tossed Ra's al Ghul aside and started dealing with the ninjas.
She didn't kill Little Superman and Ra's al Ghul because the former had Batman as a backer and the latter might have important intel. But these ninjas would not receive any clemency. With a wave of her hand, the power of Scarlet spread invisibly. Instantly, the air became the ninjas' enemy, rendering their vaunted escape techniques useless, pulling countless ninjas out of invisibility and turning them into blood mist.
When the first ninja exploded, Little Superman initially thought it was some new ninjutsu. It wasn't until one by one the ninjas disappeared into the air of Jotunheim in the same way, without leaving any traces, that he realized the woman before him was far more formidable than he had imagined.
Actually, Wanda rarely used such methods, but her mood had been terrible lately, her emotions suppressed to the brink. It was fortunate these ninjas presented themselves. After a bout of carnage, Wanda calmed down considerably.
She exhaled a long breath, planning to interrogate the two captured individuals about what was happening. Turning around, Little Superman was already gone.
Wanda's expression changed drastically: Could that guy have run into the experiment base?! Reed is still in there!
Indeed, Little Superman had already gotten away. He wasn't an ordinary Superman; he existed as a more idealistic entity than most. Simply put, whatever ability he wanted, he had. If he thought it could be done, then it truly could be done—aside from having bad luck, his combat power ranked high in the cosmos.
His biggest advantage was having no weaknesses like Superman. He wasn't afraid of Kryptonite or vulnerable to magic. Wanda entrapped him with Energy because she knew most Supers couldn't handle magic energy, assuming today's was the same, hence her lack of precaution. If she had added a Word Spirit Power, he wouldn't have escaped so easily.
Little Superman had already strolled into the experimental base. His intuition told him something was amiss here, like there was some big threat. He could ignore the Assassin's Union, but this kind of instance needed exploration. So, he swaggered inside and soon arrived at the underground laboratory.
The moment he and Reed Richards locked eyes, both were stunned.
"Hello," Little Superman nodded politely, but his gaze soon fell on the massive object behind Reed. He stared at the tip of the Mother Module iceberg and asked, "What's this?"
"How did you get here?" Reed asked. Clearly, he had anticipated the arrival of the Assassin's Union but not Little Superman, so his face was grim, already clutching a communicator.
"I came with the Assassin's Union," Little Superman explained, "They said they were looking for something... Mother Module?"
Reed's grip tightened again. He instinctively wanted to press a button on the table, but suddenly thought of something, and hesitated due to caution, not daring to act rashly.
If Batman or any other mature superhero were standing here, Reed wouldn't be this nervous. This Superman clearly wasn't normal, and importantly, he looked like a teenager—a demographic known for causing trouble without care.
"I advise you not to get any closer," Reed said, "Scarlet Witch will arrive soon. If you fight here, Thor will notice and come to arrest you."
"I don't know who these people are," Little Superman said, "But if you think they can beat me, you're wrong. Besides, don't look at me like a pest, I'm not here to cause trouble."
After speaking, he set his eyes back on the Mother Module, "What exactly is in here? Why do I feel something's off?"
Reed narrowed his eyes and said, "What's off?"
Little Superman didn't describe it; he just pointed with his hand. Reed followed the direction of his point, which was the core area he and Scarlet Witch hadn't penetrated before. There were invisible barriers there, even Wanda couldn't open it, stalling the research on the Mother Module.
The ordinary Superman shouldn't be able to tell. Reed realized the young Superman standing in front of him might be special in some way. So he probed, asking, "Do you know about Mutants?"
"Regarding your world, I don't know anything," Little Superman answered honestly. "So that red-haired woman outside is a Witch? What about you? You look like one of those villains who uses their PhD title as a code name."
"Sorry, I'm a Superhero. Did I disappoint you?"
"So what's your name? Super PhD?"
"Mr. Fantastic, thank you." Reed walked to the other side but never took his eyes off Little Superman. He was carefully evaluating whether he should reveal some information to gain Little Superman's help.
"Mr. Fantastic? That code name is a bit odd," Little Superman commented. "It doesn't have a memorable point; you can't tell what you do from it. Sales might not be so good... Forget it. Can you explain this thing to me? PhD?"
Reed detected a peculiar sense of superiority in Little Superman's assessment. It wasn't contempt derived from hostility, but rather a very natural arrogance, as if he was observing and commenting from a higher dimension. This intrigued Reed, so he made up his mind.
"Our world has a very special group called Mutants. The lady you just encountered is also a member of the Mutants. I believe you've already witnessed her strength."
Little Superman nodded and said, "I really like her look, all red from head to toe, and the Energy she uses is red too. However, the effects of the move were a bit lacking. I didn't even see what Skill she used..."
Reed did not dismiss Little Superman's words as nonsense. From these words, he realized Little Superman seemed to treat the Scarlet Witch as a game character. After all, terms like "Skill" and "effects" are generally used to describe game characters.
"Scarlet Witch is definitely stronger than you imagine," Reed continued. "The power of Scarlet can directly modify the rules of the cosmos, materialize objects out of thin air, and creating a universe is no big deal."
"Oh, I get it," Little Superman nodded and said, "it's like one of those really powerful background characters, the setting is strong but when something really happens, they're the first to disappear. Otherwise, it can't be illustrated."
Reed continued gathering information quietly, then said, "Among the Mutants, there are many similarly powerful beings. Some have the Strength to control the entire cosmos' magnetic field, others are Gods of Mind, able to freely probe others' thoughts and alter their memories..."
"Wait," Little Superman interrupted him. "This group called Mutants is an independent comic... I mean, do they often appear in large groups?"
"Yes," Reed said. "They're divided into two factions, X-Men and Mutant Brotherhood. Both sides are very powerful and occasionally have conflicts."
"Understood," Little Superman nodded and said. "So the design of the power hierarchy in this entire comic is relatively high. Do they often destroy the cosmos and then return a few days later?"
"That's correct." Reed's face grew more serious. He realized Little Superman's evaluation system isn't unfounded; he truly has an understanding beyond mere words, and the understanding is quite accurate.
"It's kind of interesting," Little Superman said again, "everyone has a super powerful ability, and then they continually clash to see how the cosmos is fancily destroyed. It's a kind of fun, isn't it?"
"You might have misunderstood something," Reed said. "While there are indeed some internal conflicts among Mutants, often the destruction is not due to Civil War, or you could say the catalyst for Civil War also comes from external pressure."
Reed looked up at the Mother Module overhead and said, "One of the pressures is this thing above your head. It can produce indiscriminate anti-Mutant Super Robots, and any powerful Mutant Ability is ineffective against it. It has conducted more than one massacre on Mutants, and we are researching how it accomplishes that."
"Is there a need to research? Of course, it's the writer moving the plot along... No, I shouldn't think like this all the time." Little Superman muttered. "Now that I'm already inside these universes, they're real. I can't just flip pages to skip all this crap storyline."
Then he sighed a deep breath, with a bit of sorrow, said, "Knowing there's a heap of crap ahead, researching which dog dropped it, why am I so unlucky."
Reed finally grasped the key. This guy had previously mentioned comics and writers, and now said "already inside them," so in this person's original universe, they are comic characters, and he has now entered a Cartoon World?
This really sounds like a case of anxiety disorder, resulting in delusions like "the world is fake, I'm just a character created."
To further verify whether Little Superman is talking nonsense or really understands something, Reed decided to listen to his thoughts on the Mother Module.