"I still can't believe something this huge is actually happening so easily."Monica shook her head as she stared at the seemingly deserted military base in front of her.No one would ever guess that a whole planet was poised to crash down from the sky above.
Apart from the collision zone, everything looked perfectly normal.
No one answered Monica; the group simply walked farther inside.
Beside her, Nick Fury studied the emblem painted on the wall:
"Birthplace of Captain America."
Nick Fury had no idea how to describe what he felt.A former friend was about to become an enemy.
"Let's go," Monica said as she reached Fury's side.
"Yeah." He nodded.
Just as S.H.I.E.L.D. stepped in, Captain America arrived with his own team.
"This is the place."
Using the device in her hand, Jessica gave Captain America a confirming nod.
Drawing a deep breath, the Captain led the way. "Move out."
The moment he entered the collision zone, he spotted S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—and Reed.
"I thought you wouldn't show up," Reed said with a smile, as though genuinely surprised to see them.
Nick Fury merely stared at Captain America and kept silent.
"Have you found a new solution?" Reed asked again.
Without waiting for an answer, he went on, "I'm guessing you haven't—otherwise that Bat-Man would already be here."
Captain America shook his head. "You're right. We still don't have a way to win."
"But we may have found a way not to lose."
"Then let's see it." Reed grinned.
"Still," Nick Fury muttered, fixing his one good eye on the Captain, "why hasn't the Bat shown up yet?"
"Relax—he'll come," Jessica answered with absolute confidence.
It was the highest vote of trust in Batman.
Inside the Batcave
Bruce was finishing the final adjustments.
"You know, I've got a bit of a phobia about this thing," Barry admitted. "In my world, Bruce rigged one of these cosmic treadmills to soup up the Batmobile."He didn't finish the story—but it was enough.
In that universe, Barry had endured near-inhuman treatment.That Batman had thrown everything the Rogues could do right back at him.
Even though Barry knew how to handle the Rogues, he'd still been caught off guard by Bruce.His trust in Batman had cost him dearly.
Bruce had literally strapped him to the front of the Batmobile—fusing their abilities.Remembering it made Barry shiver.He never wanted to go through that again.
"I know, Barry," Bruce said. The cosmic treadmill in front of him was finally complete."But this has to be done." His eyes were unwavering.
Barry fell silent—not because of Bruce's words, but because he understood what had to happen next.
"Bruce, can you guarantee the world will be restored?" Barry's voice was low."I've tried running through time, tried changing things… and everything always turns out worse.I tried to save one person, and ended up making countless others suffer."
"Bruce… time itself—"
"Trust me, Barry." Bruce didn't waver. He understood perfectly what Barry meant; the images in his own mind told the whole story.
What he was about to attempt was incredibly risky—for this world and for the already tattered timeline.
"We start now." Bruce stepped onto the treadmill and drew a long breath.
"Got it." In an instant, Barry was at his side.
Golden Speed Force lightning erupted. The world around Bruce slowed to a crawl.The treadmill roared to life. With the Speed Force coursing through him, Bruce accelerated, pushing toward the absolute limit.
The treadmill spun faster and faster. Energy built within Bruce until he was little more than a golden blur.
For Barry, this was no easy task—and Bruce was only borrowing the Flash's power.
"Let me take over."A firm voice rang out—the Red Death, silent until now.
Barry was startled.
"You know every nuance of the Speed Force, yet you're still not fully attuned to it. I can help," the Red Death said, his tone calm, almost rational—nothing like before.
"You're not just waiting for a chance to—" Barry left the threat unspoken, but the meaning was clear: he feared the Red Death might seize Bruce's body and pursue his twisted ideals.
The Red Death didn't answer Barry.He spoke only to Bruce—who still held primary control.
Working together, Bruce and Barry could keep the Red Death's will suppressed—only now had he managed to speak at all.
Honestly, were it not for Bruce's determination to pull the universe back from the brink, the Red Death might never have uttered a word.
Back then he'd coveted Barry's Speed Force not just to stop everything, but to safeguard his own universe.And now, Bruce's goal was the same.
Bruce heard the Red Death's offer, but gave no reply; he was already brushing the edge of the limit.
Seeing that Bruce didn't respond, the Red Death fell silent once more.
In the next moment, Bruce had already broken through his limits. What was once a visible cluster of light completely vanished from the cosmic treadmill.
Everything around him had changed.
All objects were instantly stretched and distorted.
Then, he was directly pulled into a long corridor filled with dazzling, multicolored lights, as if Bruce had entered the world inside a kaleidoscope.
But none of this distracted Bruce.
He kept charging forward.
Until, at last, a blinding white light appeared ahead.
Yet he did not stop.
Charging into the white light, what Bruce saw was neither the end of time nor the end of the universe.
What he saw was an enormous figure standing quietly to the side.
They didn't seem to notice Bruce's presence. They were simply observing the world before them.
"Someone's here."
A deep, ancient voice suddenly echoed. One of them had noticed Bruce.
He slowly lowered his head. His body was covered in endless cosmic starfields.
Nebulae appeared and vanished continuously within him.
In just a few brief moments, countless nebulae collapsed and reformed.
Everything in the universe was reflected on his form.
And now, his gaze was fixed on Bruce.
He could keenly sense the anomaly within Bruce.
Nearby, another figure turned to look at Bruce upon hearing the voice.
This was a female form, covered in intricate, arcane patterns, and everything about her seemed to radiate an invisible expansion.
In front of beings like these, Bruce was nothing more than an insignificant insect.
"For someone to arrive here… that's not bad," the female entity said.
Though they were slightly surprised Bruce had made it here, they weren't exactly shocked.
As she spoke, she turned back to gaze in the direction she had been watching.
Bruce followed her line of sight and turned to look behind him.
He never imagined he would witness such a scene one day. Behind him, in front of these cosmic entities, was a massive projection-like model.
And what was projected inside it was something Bruce had seen before.
A gigantic sphere, within which were countless smaller spheres—each one a different universe in the multiverse.
Only now, it seemed as if some force was guiding these spheres to collide, then vanish together.
This scene clearly showed that the multiverse was being driven into collision by some unknown force, unleashing an unstoppable catastrophe.
"Was this your doing?" Bruce turned to the cosmic entities beside him.
He had only reached this place by barely pushing through the universe's limits using the Speed Force. These beings, however, sat here effortlessly, clearly beyond most constraints.
Bruce dared not speculate too much about their power, but one thing was certain: if they chose to act, they could stop this overwhelming disaster.
Yet they remained seated, unmoving. This made Bruce suspect that they might be the ones responsible for all of this.
The cosmic entity covered in swirling nebulae lowered his head and looked at Bruce. "No."
"So someone else is behind all this?" Bruce suddenly asked, lifting his head high, trying to catch a glimpse of the entity's expression.
But cosmic entities never showed emotion over such matters. His face remained unreadable.
"Yes."
"Then why don't you stop them? Isn't the universe just as important to you?" Bruce questioned, knowing full well that the very concept of cosmic entities depended on the existence of the universe. If the universe ceased to exist, they would merely be disembodied consciousness.
"Why should we stop it?" the female cosmic entity responded, turning her gaze from the model to Bruce.
"It's just an experiment," she said calmly—words that sent chills down Bruce's spine.
This crisis engulfing the multiverse was, to them, nothing more than an experiment—an experiment conducted through the hands of others.
Their conversation drew the attention of other cosmic entities who had been watching from the side. They approached and looked upon the insignificant Bruce.
"I didn't expect anyone could make it here," another entity said, clearly surprised that Bruce had arrived. It seemed they had put measures in place to prevent others from reaching them.
Bruce knew he wouldn't get any real answers here. These beings were clearly allowing the experiment to proceed—the collision of the multiverse.
So his mission now was to find those truly orchestrating it from behind the scenes.
Golden lightning of the Speed Force crackled across Bruce's body—but in the next moment, one of the cosmic entities blocked his path.
"You can't go back," said the entity cloaked in a cape-like garment.
He didn't want Bruce to return to the multiverse, nor to find those conducting the experiment. He wanted to observe what would become of the multiverse after it endured this catastrophe.
But the nebula-covered cosmic entity shook his head.
"Let him go," he said, lowering his gaze to Bruce. "You should understand—alone, you won't be able to change much. The destruction of the multiverse is inevitable."
"No one can stop it."
Hearing those words made Bruce clench his teeth. For them to say such things meant they truly wished to see the multiverse collide and unravel.
Following the other's words, the caped entity stepped aside, allowing Bruce to return to the multiverse.
"You won't intervene… will you?" Bruce asked one last time before leaving, turning back to the cosmic entities before him.
None of them answered.
But that silence was all the answer Bruce needed. Sometimes, silence is the clearest response.
Bruce began running again—but this time, his goal was no longer the edge of the universe or the end of time.
Leaving behind a fading trail of golden lightning, Bruce vanished from the sight of the cosmic entities.
"There won't be any problems?"
"It's just an experiment. It's not like there's a fixed definition of what success looks like."
(End of chapter)
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