Although someone spent quite a long time in Kansas, it was less than half a day before the Flash returned to the main universe.
He finished the work of the CCPD, and by the way, searched for information about all the members of the Justice League and found nothing wrong.
Superman still appeared in Metropolis, a beacon of hope.
Batman was prevalent in the streets of Gotham as an urban legend oddity.
Wonder Woman came out of Paradise Island and became a diplomatic ambassador, having just finished a talk at the White House the day before.
… Everything seemed normal, and everyone had a bright future.
Barry was finally convinced that he was back, rewriting the Flashpoint mistakes and solving the mistakes he made.
“But, where’s Luke?”
Flash tried hard to recall it; he clearly remembered that the Kryptonian cousin followed him, but then he disappeared.
‘Did something happen during this period?’
“Ugh, my head hurts again.”
He drew a cold breath, his head slightly flushed with pain.
This was an after-effect of memory fusion.
What he saw and heard in both time and space collided with each other.
The old will be overwritten by the new, just like a game archive.
This situation happened to Barry in the Flashpoint world.
The longer he stayed there, the faster he forgot everything about the space-time of the main universe.
“Let’s finish the task Dr Wayne gave me…”
Barry’s doubts only lasted for a brief moment, and he remembered that he was still a ‘courier’, and he had to deliver something.
A red shadow flashed and disappeared from the apartment.
A moment later, he appeared in the Bat Cave.
Before the memory disappeared completely, Flash needed to explain the whole story to Batman.
Compared with Dr Wayne’s dilapidated base, Bruce’s lair was much more imposing.
Hundreds of high-definition screens were stitched together in an array of monitors, allowing Batman to take in every street and every corner of Gotham.
Huge conspicuous mechanical dinosaurs, a variety of high-tech props, like a tank Batmobile, and the uniforms of Batman and Robin …
Seeing these familiar things, Barry felt a sense of security inside.
Everything was real, not a dream.
“A gift?”
Batman, like his father, spoke in a hoarse voice, like someone in the last stages of lung cancer, “I don’t have a habit of celebrating holidays, besides Christmas passed a long time ago.”
Bruce didn’t know why Barry suddenly visited him and specially prepared a gift. That was just a small private party in the Justice League.
Or was it some kind of boring prank?
The Flash and the Green Lantern often did pranks … or games to enliven the team atmosphere.
For example, about choosing Catwoman or Tara bet — Batman knew about it, and he silently noted the names of the people who participated. He was glad that Superman wasn’t one of them.
Clark was relatively steady. A man who could lift a plane with his bare hands, save a cat from a tree without a ladder, and spend some time with Lois Lane… It was better for him to spend his time dealing with international disputes.
As for most of the work of the Watchtower? It’s all handled by Batman alone.
He was responsible for giving orders, and Superman and other members were responsible for carrying them out.
A clear division of labour and cooperation.
“Trust me. This gift is important to you.”
The Flash had no idea! He was noted down in Batman’s heart, and he continued, “But before that, I have a story to tell you, a story that really happened …”
Forty minutes later, Barry casually picked up the tea Alfred, the butler, had brought over. He took a couple of large gulps to moisten his dry throat.
He told him everything, but he didn’t see any emotional fluctuations from Batman. He felt disappointed.
The other party was still in that indifferent, calm, facially paralysed look. ‘Can’t you be at least surprised? Or maybe … moved a bit inside.’
‘He’s too serious.’
Barry silently thought so.
“The whole world changed because you tried to prevent your mother from being killed …”
Bruce laid his hands across the table and supported his chin, seemingly thinking about something.
“Yes. And before I could correct my mistake, the world was almost on the verge of destruction.”
The Flash added.
“So? Is everything back on track now?”
Batman’s brows knitted; he didn’t like the feeling of losing control.
‘A crisis actually happened? But I didn’t notice the slightest traces.’
‘This isn’t a good sign!’
‘Your vigilance had dropped, Bruce Wayne!’
Batman reprimanded himself.
He was strict with others, and at the same time, he wasn’t lax with himself.
With that feeling of insecurity deep inside, Batman decided it was time to update the various plans.
“Should be.”
Barry didn’t realise that his words had a great influence on Batman.
If the Flash found out that the Justice League’s ‘brain’ had started to update his own backup plan for any kind of crisis, he would definitely feel scared.
After all, there was a bloody lesson from the past. When the Legion of Doom attacked the Justice League, they almost destroyed the entire team.
However, the means used by the villains were ‘Batman’s Contingency Plans’.
At that time, the Justice League was badly wounded.
“Don’t blame yourself too much, Barry.”
Batman’s brain always turned faster than ordinary people. After a simple reflection, he started to comfort the Flash in a rare moment.
“If I had your abilities, I would definitely try the same thing.”
The two shots fired in the alley were still the nightmare hidden in Bruce’s heart.
If he could change the tragedy without causing other negative effects, he would give anything for it.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t be changed.
“Thank you. Although I successfully returned, there was a person who was travelling with me, but he disappeared.”
Barry finally remembered his lost Kryptonian cousin and told Batman, “His name is Luke, and he’s Superman’s cousin — how many survivors does Krypton have?”
“Before that, I thought Clark and Kara were the only ones?”
Batman’s eyes suddenly turned sharp!
He subconsciously pursed his lips, showing an extremely subtle emotional response.
‘Another Kryptonian?’
That’s what Batman focused on.
He didn’t care how many relatives and friends Clark had.
If those Kryptonians came to Earth and became as powerful as Superman, it would have unpredictable and serious consequences.
Not every Kryptonian, like Clark or Kara, would choose to integrate into the human world and accept the assimilation into society.
Such as the former General Zod.
‘Maybe I should go to Lex Luthor and find a way to get the formula for synthetic kryptonite in his hands.”
Although the friendship between Batman and Superman was unshakable…
However, this didn’t conflict with his increasing kryptonite stockpile and cautious of the other party.
Friendship was friendship, and responsibility was responsibility.
Batman, as cold and rational as a machine, had always been very clear about it.
‘Superman’s older cousin …’
He also wrote this down in his heart.
“Are you sure that … the Kryptonian didn’t leave in advance or was thrown somewhere else?”
Batman asked in a low voice.
“Not sure. That’s why I’m asking you for help. If Batman is looking for someone, no matter where he’s hiding can always be found.”
The Flash said a rare word of praise.
“Then you draw a portrait later, and I’ll use the Watchtower’s system to conduct a worldwide search to see if I can find him.”
With Batman’s indifference, meaningless praise wouldn’t give him the slightest emotional fluctuation.
“Well, with the story about Flashpoint out of the way, it’s time to bring out your gift.”
Barry silently placed the letter on the table. Then a stream of air gently brushed Batman’s mask, and the red figure standing in front of him had disappeared.
No one else should be here at this important moment.
Batman slightly frowned as if thinking of something.
He waited for a few seconds before slowly reaching for the ‘gift’.
He opened the envelope, then the folded paper —
“Dear son,
There’s only one thing I know about life.
I know some things happen by chance, and some things happen because we make them happen.
Barry Allen was a man haunted by his past.
But since becoming the Flash, he left the ghosts behind.
He found love, a family, and friends.
Barry thought yesterday was behind him, but somebody wouldn’t let him escape it.
When Barry came to ask me for help, I turned him away.
I’m not the hero of this story.
I’m a man who’s been corrupted by his own unbearable pain.
I’m a man who has too much blood on his hands to be called good.
I’m a man who had nothing to live for ….”
When Batman saw the line at the end — “Love always. Your father, Thomas Wayne”, his iceberg expression, that had never changed, finally loosened.
Some people say that it was hard to imagine Batman smiling.
But compared to that, it was even harder to imagine Batman could cry.
The tall, dark figure took off his hood and stared at the letter that spanned time and space for a long time.
…
…
United Kingdom.
London.
At a museum.
Diana was cleaning the Elgin Marbles sculpture from the ancient Greek Parthenon with a professional brush.
She had many important identities. She wasn’t only the Wonder Woman of the Justice League but also a diplomatic ambassador sent by Paradise Island. She was also a well-known collector and connoisseur of historical relics in the industry.
“Ms Prince, did you have anything going on last weekend?”
The young professor who worked together with her took the initiative to find a topic of conversation. Beautiful women, in his line of work, were rare creatures.
Perfect women like Diana, who was rich, beautiful, and intelligent, were even rarer.
Despite hearing that the other side had an endless stream of suitors, enough to form a long queue…
The professor, who thought he was young and promising, still wanted to join and compete with them.
According to the information he heard, this beautiful woman was named Diana Prince, was from Greece. She was born in a rich family and was proficient in many languages. She was especially good at appreciating antiquities.
The young professor had already made up his mind, starting with her interests and hobbies and making a good impression with his profound knowledge and interesting speech.
This was a long battle.
He was patient.
“Nothing particularly interesting.”
Diana devoted herself to her work and replied casually.
‘Last week’s activities?’
She went to the Watchtower to report and then attended important meetings held by the White House, the United Nations and other national institutions as the Amazon Princess. It seemed that she had no other arrangements.
Although Wonder Woman had been in the world of man for some time, she still felt that she wasn’t fully integrated.
It wasn’t easy to adapt in many areas, especially in terms of living.
She remembered that, just after leaving Paradise Island, Diana had no idea why, when she twisted that thing called ‘faucet’, the pipe would automatically pour out clean water.
How could those steel carriages travel steadily and quickly?
And what kind of magic did ice cream use to make it so delicious?
… there were too many things to learn and no one to ask.
It was a difficult time.
After the Flashpoint ended, the New-52 of the new multiverse started.
The origin of Wonder Woman had changed. She was confirmed as the illegitimate daughter of Zeus. She didn’t participate in World War I but was told by a shipwrecked sailor that Ares, the God of War, was raging in the world.
Thus, she entered the human world as an Amazon Princess, the diplomatic ambassador of Paradise Island.
Then she joined the Justice League. Diana had some different opinions about its members.
Superman was gentle but not a qualified soldier.
Batman was taciturn but always had a plan, and at the same time, he was stubborn, just like an ancient Greek tactician.
The Flash and the Green Lantern sometimes went too far, full of immaturity.
And Aquaman …
Diana tried to think about it but only had a thin impression of ‘can talk to fish.’
Poor Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter, had no sense of existence.
“There’s a cultural relics exhibition next week. I heard that the Mask of Agamemnon and the Zeus of Artemision statue will be on display.”
The young professor laid out a great deal of groundwork and then said…
“If you’re free, we can go together.”
Diana shook her head gently and refused without a word.
Greek mythology was just a pile of broken things from her relatives, nothing new.
After taking some time to finish her work, Diana politely said goodbye and left the museum despite the heartbroken eyes of the young professor.
In her free time when she was not Wonder Woman, she occasionally went shopping and then watched a movie.
Of course, sweets were a must.
These kinds of days off weren’t much because the Justice League would always have a variety of things that needed her attention.
‘I don’t know why, but there is always a feeling of uneasiness. ‘
Diana returned to her apartment. She had nightmares recently, but she couldn’t remember what had happened in her dreams.
It was like memories of the past playing back and knocking at her door, constantly waking her up in the middle of the night.
‘Some unknown changes have taken place.’
Diana’s eyes looked through the window in the direction of Olympus.
‘Did something happen to the gods, or did Ares return?’
Her eyes moved to the bedside, where there was a golden helmet permeated with divine power.
Ares had been defeated, and now Diana was the God of War.
Wonder Woman, who had difficulty clearing her mind, tossed her raven hair and stopped dwelling on the problem she couldn’t figure out.
She would know everything when she took a trip to Olympus.
Diana drew the curtains, took off her outside coat, and went into the bathroom.
The warm water flowed down her forehead, all the way down to the snow-white skin. She was wrapped in steam, outlining a hazy, wonderful figure.
After wiping her hair and putting on her bathrobe, Diana sat down in front of the computer.
Sometimes she had to admit that technology in the world of man was much more useful than magic.
While browsing the web and listening to old songs, she seemed to have adapted to this part of modern life.
“You… who are you?”
Moments later, Diana’s eyes were habitually fixed on an old photo on the table.
The picture was slightly yellowed and slightly blurred. It was obviously washed by time.
Inside it, there was a man and a woman, intimately snuggled as if they were lovers, and the background was the sunset afterglow falling into the sea’s horizon.
A beautiful scene.
But when Diana looked at herself in the photo, smiling happily, she felt it was a little strange.
She couldn’t recall the incident.
“What kind of memory magic could make me lose this memory?”
Diana lightly frowned. This photo was found on the beach before she left Paradise Island.
She didn’t tell anyone, and she didn’t ask anyone.
For some reason, Wonder Woman only wanted to keep it alone and didn’t want to share it with anyone.
“I will find you.”
Diana gently stroked the old photo with subtle emotion in her tone.
