Chapter 198: The Great World Fusion that Changes DC History
Batman hoped the first plan would succeed, quickly ending the threat of Du Wa and his group.
He saw that the second-generation Doomsday had been successfully born. The moment it appeared, it violently tore apart everything around it, but it soon began to madly tear at its own body.
"...It seems the struggle between Doomsday and the Xenomorph is not over yet."
"But Doomsday clearly has the upper hand now. I don't see many traces of the Xenomorph on this thing."
Batman watched the frantically self-mutilating second-generation Doomsday with anticipation. He hoped this thing would be victorious, as it had been cultivated using Clark Kent as a template.
However, even if Doomsday was victorious, Batman wasn't very confident he could control it. At best, he could use some previously arranged means to guide its actions in a general direction.
"If Clark hadn't been captured by the enemy, I could have completely transformed him with Doomsday cells. That would have been the best plan." Batman was still brooding over Superman's failure. The next priority was to rescue Superman.
Roar! Roar! Roar!!
Doomsday let out a shrill howl. The energy waves emanating from its body grew larger and larger. The energy circulation system within it was far more powerful than the previous generation's.
But gradually, the creature's form began to undergo subtle changes, causing Batman's heart to sink.
"Doomsday is still the dominant form, so the situation is in our favor," Alfred said reassuringly. "It's fusing with the Xenomorph's genes to unleash its most powerful form. It's normal for its form to change."
"I hope so. I don't like to leave things to chance."
Before Batman could finish, another voice rang out, emanating from the second-generation Doomsday.
"But you have no choice. You possess a high intellect, but your greatest mistake was failing to conduct a detailed study of me—the enemy you consider the most dangerous."
Du Wa had intervened in Doomsday's evolution process.
"Who?!"
"It's him... But how is that possible? Why is his voice coming from Doomsday?"
Batman and Alfred were shocked, their faces filled with disbelief, their minds buzzing.
What is this, a telepathic ability?
But why from Doomsday...?
"So that's how it is. Not only can you forcibly select a target and implant a Xenomorph, but you can also use all Xenomorphs as coordinates to transmit your thoughts?"
Batman quickly figured it out, his expression turning extremely grim. "Alfred, have you detected any sign of the enemy nearby?"
"No, Master Bruce. I've been closely monitoring the surroundings. Either the enemy has used some unknown method to infiltrate our systems, or they aren't physically nearby, and they truly possess an ultra-long-range control ability."
"That's truly terrible."
This was what Batman had feared most. He had also worried that he, like Superman, would be inexplicably controlled. But the entire experiment had proceeded so smoothly that he had gradually let his guard down, guessing that perhaps Du Wa's control ability had a range limit, or that it was achieved through methods like mental transmission or curses.
This was why Batman had activated all defensive systems immediately upon returning to the Batcave.
But now, it seemed useless. It wasn't that Du Wa lacked the ability to interfere remotely; he simply had no reason to do so.
"Perhaps our act of implanting the Xenomorph embryo into Doomsday inadvertently provided the enemy with the perfect coordinate, allowing them to detect our actions in time." Alfred closed his eyes in anguish. "But if even the Batcave isn't safe, where else can we conduct experiments?"
There was simply no other choice. This entire process had been a gamble on probabilities.
"Don't be too sad, Alfred. I've said similar things to many people: It's not that you don't work hard, nor that you aren't smart enough. It's purely because you don't know what you're facing." Du Wa's voice came from Doomsday.
Doomsday's physical transformation gradually stabilized. A long tail grew from its back, and its pair of black hands settled into a slender structure, a form strikingly similar to a Xenomorph.
The originally intense genetic conflict had stabilized so quickly, making Batman even more worried. Still, he remained calm. "It seems you've used me to gain another warrior no less powerful than Superman. Congratulations."
"Thank you. You're the first of my enemies to congratulate me."
The strangely shaped Doomsday used its Heat Vision to pierce through several gates and tore open a barrier with its thick arms. Amidst a series of ear-piercing metallic sounds, it drew closer and closer to Batman and Alfred's position.
Calm, rational, completely lacking the madness and chaos of the first-generation Doomsday.
This was terrible. It meant that no matter how chaotic a bio-weapon was, it could become the perfect tool in Du Wa's hands.
Worse, Du Wa had a method for deploying and controlling Xenomorph elements. From the looks of it, this method had very few restrictions and could be used repeatedly.
"Master Bruce, it seems we're going to die here," Alfred said, half-joking and half-serious. "It looks like that cryogenic technology you prepared for me won't be needed."
"No. I have other escape routes. The cryogenic plan was to help you escape from a mindless Doomsday, not this one in front of us."
Batman opened another door, led Alfred into a cockpit, and simultaneously detonated the secret room. The two of them then made a swift escape.
"What now? We can't escape their pursuit."
"We have to escape even if we can't. I still have a way to change all of this, but it's not Lex Luthor's second plan. That one is too incredible; it can't be used unless we're at a dead end."
Batman spoke quickly, piloting the aircraft at full speed in a certain direction.
He took a moment to look at the city below. The massive explosion had engulfed the entire Batcave, triggering a localized earthquake. A huge pillar of fire shot into the sky, and thick black smoke seemed to devour Gotham City.
The entire city's population of over twenty million was stunned. They thought another supervillain was causing trouble and were filled with alarm.
"Who could it be this time? Is it the Joker again? I sincerely hope it's a gas pipeline explosion!"
"Don't be afraid, we have Batman! As long as he's here, everything will be fine. Now, we just have to wait patiently for Batman to step in and stop the disaster..."
But after a long wait, as the police arrived in the vicinity of Wayne Manor and stared in shock at the astonishing explosion, the people still hadn't seen any sign of Batman.
This was too strange, highly unusual. Nothing like this had happened in over a decade. The fact that Batman didn't appear immediately meant something was wrong.
"Commissioner Gordon, we still haven't seen Batman."
"Understood. I'll handle it."
The elderly Commissioner Gordon looked up at the bat symbol projected by the Bat-Signal.
He knew about the battle between Batman and Superman. He also knew that LexCorp Tower had created a terrifying monster. However, he was only vaguely aware of the outcome, because the disaster seemed to have been inexplicably quelled. No one knew the specifics, so they could only guess that Batman and Superman had achieved victory.
But after that, no one could contact either Batman or Superman. Some suspected that the two superheroes had either died or were seriously injured and recuperating.
"It seems the situation in that battle was more complicated than I expected. But even Superman is nowhere to be seen..."
Gordon knew that Batman was a mere mortal, which made him even more worried.
"Wait, we've got a situation! Everyone be careful!" a police officer shouted.
Immediately after, with a loud rumble, a tall figure emerged from the collapsed cave ruins with heavy steps. Notably, its first few steps were heavy, but then, the creature's body began to contract, becoming slender as if its weight was decreasing, and its footsteps grew lighter.
"Isn't that the monster from LexCorp Tower? Why is it here? It was supposed to be dead!" Commissioner Gordon was stunned and ordered all officers to retreat quickly.
Some daredevils were about to open fire, but Gordon stopped them with a sharp rebuke.
"What about the people from Wayne Enterprises? Don't they have anything to say? This is very close to Wayne Manor!" Commissioner Gordon said, annoyed.
But the shareholders of Wayne Enterprises were also dumbfounded the moment they received the news. They were just a business giant, not a criminal organization. Why were they getting entangled in this mess?
Immediately, another group of people tried to contact Bruce Wayne, but they were destined to be ignored.
After this incident, even if it were to be resolved perfectly, some discerning people would cast their suspicious gazes upon Bruce Wayne.
But Batman couldn't be bothered with that now. If they didn't overcome this current crisis, the whole world would be doomed.
"So, Batman has fled to Central City? With his intellect, it's likely not just to recruit teammates. I have the strongest fighters, Superman and Wonder Woman, in my hands. It doesn't matter how many powerful heroes he finds. To defeat me, he can only resort to unconventional means."
Under the nervous gazes of the crowd, Doomsday stood on the ruins like an iron tower, gazing in a certain direction.
Du Wa watched Batman's retreating figure. He had originally run out of patience and was planning to just parasitize Batman directly.
Here in DC Comics, he didn't have a single subordinate with a decent brain to act as an enforcer. At the very least, he needed someone who could go head-to-head with a lunatic like The Batman Who Laughs in the future.
Imagine the scene: Barbatos, Lord of the Dark Multiverse, Dragon of Worlds, the Bat-God, sends his number one minion, The Batman Who Laughs, into battle. How would Du Wa respond? Would he have to personally deal with such a troublesome guy?
He couldn't just summon Iron Man, Mr. Blue, or others from the Marvel Universe, not unless he reached at least the Strong Multiversal Level sequence.
But if he reached that level of strength, why would he even bother with The Batman Who Laughs? He would have long since set his sights on a higher level. Everything in between would just be a chess piece on his path to greater heights.
"The Flash... If this involves the Flashpoint event, let me think."
Du Wa pondered, recalling something very important.
The DC Comics Multiverse, although a closed world sealed by the Source Wall within the grander Omniverse, was not doomed to remain static and fall into endless internal strife. There were various foreign concepts that could ignore the Source Wall and directly merge into the DC Comics world itself.
The Watchmen Universe and the Vertigo Universe are typical examples.
The Flashpoint event, on the surface, was just a time-travel stunt the Flash pulled to change history, leading to the birth of a new timeline. Of course, this was remarkable, but to a being of Du Wa's level, the emergence of a new history was hardly worth mentioning.
The Flashpoint event also brought about a much deeper change: the Vertigo Universe used this event to successfully join DC Comics. The host of Concept Gods from Vertigo thus became Concept Gods of the DC Comics Multiverse, completing a major conceptual expansion and experiencing an unprecedented surge in their own scale and power.
Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium...
This was The Endless from the Vertigo Universe. Any one of them was a Concept Level individual, the personified incarnation of a natural force in a specific domain.
What Du Wa was more interested in was, which specific Flashpoint event was responsible for this great world fusion that could affect the Multiverse itself, adding so many terrifying Multiversal gods to the DC Comics world in one go?
Among so many universes, quite a few have actually had a Flashpoint event. In the current DCEU, if not for Du Wa's arrival, a Flashpoint event would also occur in the near future.
Or...
"Could it be that the Flashpoint events of various universes erupt simultaneously, paving the way for the complete fusion of the Vertigo Universe?"
Du Wa was very interested in this. If possible, he would be more than willing to witness this historic event firsthand.
Because, when it came to triggering the fusion of universes, how many gods in this world had a broader perspective or a greater ability to make contact with another vast world than Du Wa?
After all, Du Wa had established strongholds in two massive multiverses simultaneously. He also had a deep understanding of both multiverses and even knew many of their secrets.
The Marvel Multiverse and the DC Comics Multiverse... this would be a collision on the Multiverse level. If it happened, what kind of changes would it produce?
It would surely far surpass the commotion of the Vertigo Universe and Watchmen Universe fusing with the DC Comics world. It would be a more magnificent and grander scene than The Endless and Doctor Manhattan running amok in the DC Comics Multiverse.
A crazy glint flashed in Du Wa's eyes.
Fortunately, The Endless had not yet formally fused with DC Comics. Otherwise, the moment he revealed this cognitive shift, he feared that Desire and Delirium, those two most unhinged gods, would catch wind of it and come calling. It was even possible that Destiny, the leader of The Endless who nominally never interferes with the world's changes, might just run out of Destiny's Garden.
"Just thinking about it excites me..."
(end of chapter)