As the explosion spread, the entire underground cavern became unstable. With Joey hanging from Raven's beak, she beat her wings and swept both him and the unconscious old Thomas out of the collapsing depths.
"No, we can't leave yet! The thing inside that fragment is about to seep into this universe!"
Joey felt that under the impact of that energy wave just now, his body had nearly cracked apart like a fragile clay statue. But that same shock had also shown him many things.
For example, where this body of his came from, why it had returned here, and the true nature of this universe—and others.
Because of that, even in such intense pain, he kept his attention fixed on the universe fragment that Barbatos had thrown down before leaving.
The reason was simple: those fragments had once been real universes that rapidly marched toward destruction. That particular fragment had not even fully decayed yet—it still contained the final moments of its apocalypse.
And within it, was that universe's core—Superman.
Without exaggeration, this particular Kryptonian was a true anchor of existence. The vast majority of DC universes depended on his presence.
If Superman were permanently killed, it would essentially mean the death knell of that universe.
And if a universe was on the brink of destruction while its Superman still existed, then there was only one possible explanation—an almost obvious conclusion.
That Superman himself had caused it.
The massive explosion just now had released the material contents of the fragment into Joey's universe. The underground cavern, which had briefly emptied after Barbatos's departure, was now filled once again by an enormous metallic structure.
It was a massive spindle-shaped metal construction, surrounded by a ring-like energy circuit. Its sheer size filled the entire cavern, forcibly halting the collapse.
A space station had appeared before Joey and Raven.
It was a remnant from the universe fragment left behind by Barbatos—the Justice League Watchtower of that universe.
The Watchtower was a massive space station built primarily of advanced alloys, integrating the technological achievements of nearly ten different planets.
It had been constructed collectively by many members of the Justice League.
Including Cyborg and Batman from Earth, Diana from Themyscira, Superman from Krypton, a Green Lantern from Oa, Hawkgirl from Thanagar, Martian Manhunter, and even Orion and Big Barda from New Genesis and Apokolips.
This made the Watchtower not just a symbol of the League's immense power, but also a testament to the unity it represented.
Heroes from across the universe had gathered under a shared ideal of justice and the guidance of a perfect moral exemplar, standing together to protect Earth and the cosmos from disaster and nightmare.
Until one day, that very exemplar became their disaster.
Despite the Watchtower's excellent soundproofing, the violent sounds of battle within could not escape Joey's ears.
Explosions. The clash between Diana's Godkiller sword and a Kryptonian's heat vision.
Kryptonian. Wonder Woman. Batman.
Even without super hearing, something was clearly wrong. Outside the station, a pair of blood-dried wings clung to a solar panel—the remains of Hawkgirl.
On the inner wall of the outer ring, a Green Lantern ring with only a single severed blackened finger remained—John Stewart's ring.
In the distance, a charred, melted mass fell from midair after losing low-gravity suspension—the remains of Martian Manhunter.
Inside the station, the battle was reaching its climax. The collision between the Godkiller sword and fragments of Zeus's shield triggered a massive explosion, and a red-caped figure blasted through layers of walls, crashing out of the cavern.
Chasing after him was Wonder Woman—from that fragment universe—swinging her blade down at the fallen Superman.
Seeing this, Raven immediately phased herself and the two people she carried. Ignoring Joey's protest, she flew upward through layers of rock toward the surface.
She was barely sustaining half her essence in the material plane. One of the two she carried—Batman—was unconscious, and any further strain might trigger a fatal heart attack.
The other—this Superman—had recklessly clashed head-on with a being like Barbatos, nearly shattering himself into pieces. The fact that he wasn't erased outright was already a miracle.
Whatever was happening below was not something the three of them could interfere with right now.
And the story of this Watchtower from another universe began with Barbatos's role.
As he had said, among the infinite multiverse, he was responsible for overseeing and devouring the worst of them.
And the events within this fragment he left behind? On a multiversal scale, they weren't even particularly bad.
Just… an ordinary possibility.
A possibility where that universe's Superman one day decided to test whether he could destroy the entire Justice League by himself.
And he succeeded.
When the League received an emergency signal from Superman, the other six members of the core team responded and rushed to the Watchtower.
But when they arrived, only Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash were present at the table.
Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter—and even Superman himself—were all held up.
Batman and Wonder Woman both frowned, while Barry Allen—big-hearted as ever—kept loudly slurping his soda through a straw, unable to ease the unease in their minds.
Who was behind this? Lex Luthor? Vandal Savage? Brainiac?
Their doubts were soon answered.
Superman arrived—carrying the corpse of Green Lantern and half of Hawkgirl.
Batman saw that Green Lantern's hand—the one that wore the ring—was completely gone. From the twisted expression on his face, it was clear he had died of suffocation.
Hawkgirl's shoulders were torn apart, blood pouring out where her wings had been ripped off. She had passed out from the pain.
Wonder Woman stepped forward to take her to the medbay.
But suddenly, Hawkgirl opened her eyes.
She lashed out at Superman and shouted desperately at Wonder Woman:
"It's Superman! Superman killed Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter!"
"What?!"
Hawkgirl's scream left Wonder Woman completely at a loss. She had imagined countless possibilities, but never this one. Her first instinct was to defend Superman:
"Tell me what's going on, Clark. Was someone controlling Hawkgirl?!"
"No, Diana. No one is being controlled—not even me."
Hovering in the air, Superman tossed the convulsing Hawkgirl—wracked with pain from resisting—aside like garbage, then answered calmly:
"Now it's your turn."
Before Hawkgirl hit the ground, the Flash sprinted in, leaping high to catch her—but that was exactly what Superman wanted. Speedsters are far more vulnerable in midair, especially someone as careless as Barry Allen.
With a single blast of heat vision, Superman sliced the Flash who was trying to catch Hawkgirl in half.
It all happened so fast that Diana had no time to react beyond a cry of grief:
"No!"
With the Flash's death, the universe itself began to rapidly collapse from unseen corners, until only a final fragment remained—centered around Superman.
The red glow in Superman's eyes faded as he looked at the devastated Wonder Woman.
"You're next, Diana."
Forced into action, Diana drew her sword and faced him:
"Clark, what happened to you? Was it some new kind of kryptonite from Luthor?"
"Nothing happened, Diana."
His expression was as serious as ever, but the warmth in his blue eyes was gone—replaced by a dead, still calm.
"I just don't feel like playing along anymore."
Batman hurled several explosive batarangs laced with kryptonite dust, but Superman destroyed them all with his heat vision.
"Stop playing these pointless games, Bruce."
Superman's tone remained steady, but the mockery beneath it was unmistakable.
"The only reason you ever beat me before was because I liked you. I thought a poor orphan like you deserved some happiness—like the joy of defeating someone as strong as me."
Superman's tone remained steady, but Batman could sense the mockery in his words. The deeper the bond they had shared in the past, the more deeply those blunt words cut into him.
At that moment, Wonder Woman stepped forward, striking her bracers together to unleash a powerful shockwave capable of toppling even a Kryptonian.
"Run, Bruce!"
As she held Superman off, Batman retreated—not out of cowardice, but strategy.
He had already tried contacting others, but the communication system was down, and the Watchtower's teleporters were offline.
Unable to return to the Batcave in gotham, he rushed to one of the Watchtower's secure storage rooms to gather whatever weapons remained.
His trust in Superman had dulled his preparations—most anti-Superman weapons had been moved to the Batcave long ago.
All he could find was a kryptonite spear and a red sun radiation gun.
Armed with these tools, Batman sprinted back to the battlefield.
He saw a massive hole torn in the station—but beyond it was not the vacuum of space.
His suit's microcomputer indicated they were inside Earth's atmosphere.
There was no time to question it.
Outside, Wonder Woman was still fighting Superman.
Batman raised his weapon and fired:
"Diana!"
The red sun radiation slowed Superman just enough.
At last, Wonder Woman's blade cut across his chest.
Batman hurled the kryptonite spear toward her:
"Catch!"
Even now, neither of them intended to kill him.
With the spear and the red sun radiation, subduing Clark should have been possible.
But everything Batman expected shattered within the next half-second.
Superman only staggered briefly before regaining full movement.
He struck Wonder Woman with a single punch, sending her flying as she lost focus on the spear.
Then he grabbed her sword arm and, with a brutal reverse motion, drove the Godkiller blade straight into her throat.
"No!"
In that instant, Batman's world completely fell apart.
Wonder Woman coughed up blood, her airway and arteries severed. She collapsed to her knees, life fading from her once-burning eyes.
Stepping past her body, Superman appeared before Batman in an instant.
Instead of attacking, he spoke—calmly, but with cold finality:
"Why, Clark? I trusted you. Everyone in the Justice League trusted you! Why?!
"We stopped Luthor, defeated Brainiac, saved Metropolis from Doomsday, repelled Apokolips—and you even helped Tim with his math homework once!"
"Was all of that a lie?!"
Superman nodded indifferently.
"Of course it was real."
"And because it was real, I survived—while you missed your chance to kill me."
Clark Kent looked at Batman, memories of their past flickering in his eyes—but they meant nothing to him now.
For the first time, he felt free from the dull monotony of his old life. And for that, he didn't mind saying a few extra words to his former friend:
"It's like keeping a tank full of ants. At first, you're fascinated. You care for them, observe them, even name a few interesting ones."
"But one day, for no particular reason, they just stop being interesting."
"Let's end this, Bruce. In case you didn't realize—I've decided to kill everyone on Earth. All of you.
"And that seems to have brought me into a brand-new universe."
Superman raised his right hand high, preparing to strike Batman down with a single blow.
"Don't worry about me, Bruce."
"I can always raise a new colony of ants in this universe."