"No!!"
The Laughing Bat threw his head back in a wild cackle. "Hahaha, you guys are just too easy to fool!!"
He bent over, head tilted, laughing maniacally, his black teeth glinting with an eerie chill.
His blood-red lips stretched into an exaggerated grin as he pointed at the bewildered Spider-Man, unable to stop laughing.
There was no trace of weakness in him now.
"Hahaha, poor little bug, it's true—Batman tricked Batman. So, who're you betting on to win?" he asked, chuckling.
Charlie: "."
He quickly caught on. "Alright, I get it. This time, I'm betting on Batman to win," he said with a shrug.
As the saying goes, Batman knows Batman best, so only Batman can deceive Batman.
Naturally, the ultimate winner would still be Batman.
Only Batman can defeat Batman.
Yup, everyone gets it now.
As the ruined universe began to swell, Charlie spread his arms and closed his eyes.
"Come on! Blow me to smithereens!"
"No, no, no~"
At that moment, the world's expansion halted, and the Laughing Bat raised a finger.
He'd suddenly changed his mind.
"Sly little pest, if you want me to do something, I'll do the exact opposite."
Charlie: "."
"You talk too much."
He muttered, his eyes blazing with crimson light.
Zzzzt!!BOOM!!
The Omega Beams pierced the Laughing Bat's body, but to him, it was nothing.
He wouldn't die.
Raising his fist, he advanced slowly. "Spider-Man, I'm going to ruin you."
"Me?" Charlie's expression turned odd.
"With what? Your fists?"
"Of course."
The Laughing Bat grinned wickedly. "Let's play something different.
You know, back in 1974, I won my first kickboxing championship in Southeast Asia—"
Mid-sentence, a fist the size of a sandbag landed squarely on his right eye.
"Ow! You sneak-attacked me!" the Laughing Bat yelped, clutching his eye.
Charlie raised his fist, flashing a grin.
"When it comes to chaos, I'm better than you."
The Laughing Bat stomped in frustration, gnashing his teeth. "Damn bug, I've changed my mind again."
With a piercing scream toward the sky, the massive abyssal maw reappeared.
At the same time, the world began to swell again.
Charlie smirked. "If you can't handle losing, don't play."
Hum~BOOM!!
As the ruined universe dissolved into nothingness, Charlie returned to the Cosmic Web.
Remaining 144 retries.
Restart!
Bruce Wayne's manor.
The Batcave. Bruce Wayne devised a plan to counter the Laughing Bat's imminent arrival in this world.
"I'm against it this time," Charlie raised his hand.
"This time?"
Bruce Wayne frowned, puzzled. "This is our first time making a plan together, but you should trust me."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I admit your plan's perfect, but you need to realize that guy's also a Batman. No one understands you better than him."
Wayne's brow furrowed. "True, no one knows me better than him, but no one knows him better than me either.
I'm certain he won't immediately corrupt any of us superheroes. If we infuse Purification Power into the civilians around us, he'll try to corrupt them, and the Purification Power will seize the opportunity to infiltrate and destroy the Joker Virus in him."
"It's the Laughing Virus now," Charlie corrected.
Wayne shook his head. "That's not important. What matters is I'm confident he'll fall for it under our assault."
Charlie still rejected the plan.
"It won't work. He saw through my Purification Power from the start."
At that, Wayne fell silent.
Clark, standing nearby, suggested, "How about the backup plan?"
Wayne turned. "All the backup plans are inferior to the first. Since he knows about the Purification Power, I'll use that to catch him off guard."
Charlie's eyes lit up. "You've got a new idea?"
"Not yet, but give me one night, and it'll be fine," Wayne said confidently.
Charlie considered it. "Alright, I'll trust you one more time."
"One more time?"
Wayne frowned. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
…
Day twenty-eight.
The Laughing Bat descended again.
"Hahaha, this world is so fresh~"
Before he could act, a voice from behind interrupted him.
"I'm going to corrupt this world completely!"
The Laughing Bat: "???"
He turned slowly, only to see an equally sinister Batman "swearing" to the city.
"I'm fulfilling my grand goal—there's no room left for further corruption," Wayne said, flashing a creepy smile at the city.
The Laughing Bat: "???"
He froze again.
The next moment, he sensed the Joker Virus—no, the Laughing Virus—spreading in Wayne's body.
He grinned even more wickedly. "Excellent. Looks like I don't need to do anything. This universe's Batman is already infected. So, partner, we're on the same side now."
Noticing the Laughing Bat, Wayne tilted his head. "Yes, I sensed your arrival. I hope I can fall as far as you have."
"You will. I'll help you."
The Laughing Bat approached, and Wayne raised his right hand, clasping his.
"Corruption!"
They spoke in unison, then burst into laughter together.
"Ahahaha, the journey of corruption begins again."
"Indeed, it's begun."
Wayne's lips curled with authority, and a cool surge of energy erupted from his palm, flooding into the Laughing Bat's body.
"What?"
The Laughing Bat was stunned. "What did you do to me?"
As he shouted, he tried to pull his hand free, but the energy clung to the Laughing Virus, relentlessly weakening him, leaving him unable to struggle.
"No!!"
His eyes widened, and as he roared skyward, eerie black mist poured from his body.
Crack crack~
The metal visor over his eyes shattered, revealing bloodshot eyes to Wayne's gaze.
Seeing his plan succeed, Wayne pulled out a syringe and injected himself, using a special serum to break down the replicated Joker Virus into proteins.
Yes, he'd used the Purification Power to create a custom serum, granting temporary immunity to the Joker Virus.
That's how he perfectly deceived the Laughing Bat.
"Damn you!!"
The Laughing Bat, watching this, saw his black teeth fall out.
Kneeling weakly, he cursed through gritted teeth. "You bastard, you betrayed my feelings! You're a jerk! You're too corrupt!"
Wayne shrugged. "The virus made you powerful, but it blinded you. Other Wayne, you can return to normal now."
"Return to normal? You think I'm sick?"
The Laughing Bat laughed again. "Ahahaha~ Bruce, you think you can take me down that easily?
Don't forget, I'm Batman too!"
With that, his body disintegrated, and a massive, sinister face loomed in the sky.
Gagaga~~
The Laughing Bat's grotesque visage grinned wickedly. "A bunch of fools thinking they can defeat me? Pathetic!!"
ROAR!!
The abyssal maw unleashed a terrifying suction, plunging the city into chaos.
On the rooftop, Wayne clung to the wall, fighting not to be swallowed.
He tapped his earpiece, his face grim. "That was a clone. We failed."
"Execute the backup plan."
From the van on the street, Charlie spoke, and Clark and the others, hiding nearby, rushed toward him without hesitation.
Hum~
The Omega Beams opened a portal, and everyone surged through.
In an instant, they crossed the timeline to the Laughing Bat's arrival point.
"Second chance—go!"
Clark roared, charging at the Laughing Bat.
Simultaneously, the Clark from the original timeline caught on, joining his future self to attack.
Behind him were two Dianas and two Arthurs.
As for the Flash… Too many to count.
Charlie squinted.
"Not enough. Still not enough."
He turned to his original-timeline self. "A few more times."
The other Charlie nodded. "No problem."
The Omega Beams kept firing, summoning heroes from past and future timelines, overwhelming the Laughing Bat with countless superheroes.
Though the real Laughing Bat's location remained unknown, that didn't matter.
Wayne's plan was doomed to fail.
Because Batman knows Batman best.
But Batman doesn't know Spider-Man.
Spider-Man doesn't get Batman either, but that's irrelevant.
Spider-Man has his own rhythm.
Among the swarm of "Spider-Men," one Charlie rubbed his chin.
"Is this really okay?"
"Definitely a problem."
"Keep going?"
"Of course."
"It's feeling more dangerous."
"The more dangerous, the higher the success rate."
The Charlies exchanged glances, sharing an odd smile.
Meeting their same-timeline selves and acting so recklessly—big trouble was brewing.
Finally, in their view, the Laughing Bat's body was shattered again, but the heroes' movements slowed.
Time began to freeze, everything halting.
The portal from the Omega Beams dissolved, and the timeline collapsed entirely.
The rules of time began to repair themselves as space cracked and shattered.
Everything would start over!
On Apokolips, Darkseid was frozen in stasis.
His face was grim.
He knew what Spider-Man had done.
Deliberately crossing timelines repeatedly to fracture them, forcing a universe reset.
What a damn bug.
Even when he used Omega Beams, it was only to kill enemies with their power.
He'd never recklessly abuse time travel like Spider-Man.
That could destabilize the rules of time and space, leading to disastrous consequences.
But Spider-Man did it anyway.
He hadn't expected Spider-Man to be this insane.
By the time he realized, it was too late to stop him.
The universe restarted, and even the sole New God of the multiverse was affected.
In a fleeting moment, Darkseid lost consciousness.
The universe began to repair itself…
…
When he awoke, Darkseid's eyes were filled with confusion.
"Where am I…"
He sat up in bed, scanning his room.
"Your Highness, Second Prince, you're awake."
A servant brought hot water, and Darkseid raised his hand, staring at his pale, smooth palm, lost in thought.
"I think I had a dream," he said.
The servant, wiping his body, didn't respond.
But his uncle did.
"Uxas, you had a dream?"
Steppenwolf, clad in spiked armor, entered the room, eyeing the scrawny Uxas. "Dreaming is for the weak. No dreaming next time."
Darkseid: "???"
"Can you even control that?" he scoffed at Steppenwolf's words.
Steppenwolf shook his head. "Looks like I need to intensify your training."
At that, Darkseid felt a massive headache.
"If I become King of Apokolips, I'll make you feel my pain," he muttered, seemingly used to this.
As for what happened in the dream, he'd completely forgotten.
After getting up, he followed Steppenwolf to the training grounds.
There, countless Apokoliptian soldiers drilled in combat.
Darkseid glanced at their techniques and shook his head.
Same old moves. Outdated.
In his private training room, Steppenwolf paused, looked around, then crouched and whispered to Darkseid. "I've heard Drax has found the legendary Omega Effect. With its power, he'll gain the Omega Beams and become the next King of Apokolips."
Darkseid's face fell.
"Then I've got no chance?"
"You're the Second Prince. You never had a chance."
"Uncle, you have to help me."
Still a pale, unmutated pretty boy, not yet the stone giant, Darkseid looked at his uncle with pleading eyes, his expression nervous.
"If Drax becomes king, we'll all be exiled."
Steppenwolf nodded. "I know. That's why we need to secure the Omega Beams first."
"You've got a plan?" Darkseid's eyes lit up.
Steppenwolf shook his head. "I don't."
Darkseid: "."
"So you're saying I have to figure it out myself?" His eyes were resentful. "Dear Uncle, you know I'm just a weakling who can't even beat you."
Steppenwolf: "."
"Dear Second Prince, talk like that again, and I'll smack you."
"No, no, I'm sorry! When I become king, I'll make you Grand General."
"I'm already Grand General."
"Uh, fine. When I'm king, I'll capture the White Wolf Queen from the neighboring planet to be your wife."
Steppenwolf grinned, satisfied.
"Dear Second Prince, I like how you look out for your uncle."
Darkseid covered his face. "So, dear Uncle, care to share your plan now?"
"I told you, I don't have one."
Steppenwolf paused, then smirked.
"But no worries—someone else does."
"Who?" Darkseid asked eagerly.
Steppenwolf clapped his hands. "Spider-Man, come out!"
"Spider-Man?"
Under Darkseid's curious gaze, the training room door opened, revealing an unremarkable figure in red and blue.
"That's right, it's me—the strongest, most supreme, handsome, humorous, and, most importantly, ever-helpful Invincible Spider-Man!"
Charlie gave a brief introduction.
Darkseid's mouth twitched. He glanced at Steppenwolf and whispered, "Uncle, this guy seems like he's got a screw loose."
Steppenwolf coughed. "Don't talk nonsense. He's an Earth warrior stronger than even me. With his help, you'll definitely become King of Apokolips."
"Him?" Darkseid eyed the scrawny Spider-Man skeptically.