“Keep laughing!”
The indifferent voice, accompanied by a hard fist, slammed down together on the body of the Batman Who Laughs.
The slender black shadow that filled the multiverse seemed to melt like wax oil, shrinking in size for no reason at all.
The shrill, frightening, maddening laughter that reached every corner came to a screeching halt.
The Batman Who Laughs lost his laugh, as if he was choked.
“How is this possible …”
The always anticipating everything, calculative Batman Who Laughs uttered the words of a third-rate villain.
He himself managed to steal most of Perpetua’s power through countless plots and foresight.
With the help of countless Dark Multiverse Batmen destroying the Justice League’s defenses and spreading nightmarish laughter everywhere.
Nowadays, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman … those superheroes were helpless against him.
Even the goddess of creation was losing ground. Who else in this multiverse could stop him?
Such thoughts, a second ago, occupied Batman Who Laughs’ entire brain.
Until —
Superman jumped out of nowhere and woke him up.
“That’s the end of it! To be honest, I’m sick of you blathering on about, ‘I saw this coming’, all that clumsy plotting and scheming!”
“I also hate your harsh, noisy, ugly, castrated rooster-like laugh!”
“Your novice protection period has ended since Barbatos used Batman as a portal to gather the Dark Knights and had prepared to open the Dark Multiverse.”
Luke had no qualms about releasing the power within him.
The reason why he could do harm to the Batman Who Laughs was because of the Superboy-Prime card.
The latter came from Earth Prime, where all superheroes were fictional characters from comics.
Therefore, the Superboy-Prime actually came from the ‘reality dimension’.
Not only was there a comic about the Justice League there, but there was also an editorial department.
Luke, who had obtained the Superboy-Prime card, could not only break the ‘fourth wall’ like Deadpool but also had the ability to break through the Sixth Dimension.
No matter how powerful Laughs was, as long as he hadn’t entered the Omniverse, he could intervene in the direction of the story and modify the ending of the story.
Then, he was just a marionette puppet who couldn’t step out of the comic frame and defy the comic settings.
“You can’t kill me! This multiverse is about to restart. Those dead superheroes, destroyed parallel universes … they can all be reborn after the reboot!”
Laughs collapsed on the remains of the Source Wall and spoke in a shrill voice, “If you kill me and stop another restart of the multiverse, then they would all really be dead!”
Luke gazed at the laughing bat that had fallen from the Sixth Dimension, a puzzled look flashed in his eyes as he rhetorically asked, “What does that have to do with me?”
“Uh …”
Laughs, who excelled at sophistry and deception, got stuck and seemed unsure of how to proceed.
“I don’t care about the reboot of the multiverse, and I don’t care about the lives and deaths of countless people, I simply want to beat you to death, that’s all.”
Luke’s face looked expressionless, as he dragged Laughs, who couldn’t resist.
Since Superboy-Prime could do great damage to this guy…
Then, against the more powerful Luke…
There was nothing else the laughing bat could do but spin his little brain and launch a constant stream of verbal shots.
Superboy-Prime came from Earth Prime, and he had secured this card.
So, Luke didn’t need to worry about Batman’s ‘Everything is within my expectation’ ability.
“Do you want to guess what I’m planning to do next?”
His mouth curled in a mocking smile as he teased, “Guess right and I might cut you some slack.”
Laughs seemed to sense death coming and struggled desperately as he kept throwing out guess after guess.
But Luke turned a deaf ear to it, erasing the guy’s ‘Everything is within my expectation’ ability.
The so-called ultimate boss that fused Batman and the Joker and spread dark nightmares was nothing more than a waste.
“I gave you a chance. You’re smarter than Batman and crazier than the Joker, you can’t even guess what I’m thinking, what a failure of a character.”
Luke reached the end of the multiverse, a place more distant and empty than the Source Wall.
A dead crimson sun appeared in his line of sight.
This wasn’t an actual star, but a giant “tomb” where every Earth was absorbed after Laughs destroyed the multiverse.
All the stories, all the characters, would become the flames of this dying sun and perish with it.
“Say goodbye to the world.”
Luke held down Laughs and rushed to the burning dying sun.
The twisted, elongated black shadow shrank as the flames of destruction consumed everything, billowing out a dense smoke that contained the power of nightmares.
“Even if I die, the multiverse will still be in a constant cycle of back and forth! There would still be villains like me, playing out an insipid story with those superheroes!”
Very close to death, Laughs spoke in a sharp voice.
“No more, I can put an end to this, I can make everything more exciting.”
The dark red cloak melted with the flames of destruction as Luke broke into the core of the dying sun, and then watched the Batman Who Laughs turn to dust.
Boom!
With the complete death of the Batman Who Laughs, the Dark Multiverse collapsed.
In the endless void, only a tall figure stood alone.
“Superman!”
The survivors shouted out the name.
A brilliant golden glow filled the surface of his body, like a dazzling star that couldn’t be looked at.
Luke, who had finally unlocked the ‘Golden Superman’ template, looked down at the upcoming reboot of the multiverse.
With a faint smile on his face, he took a step and disappeared from everyone’s sights.
…
…
A few months later.
Watchtower headquarters.
“Where exactly did you go? What did you see?”
This was the 42nd time that the Flash had asked the same question.
“Curiosity killed the cat, Barry.”
Luke shook his head and didn’t answer.
Everyone in the Justice League wanted to know whether they had finally entered the Omniverse and pushed open the ultimate door.
“But I really want to know!”
Barry blinked his eyes with a pitiful look on his face.
“Well then, it’s my biggest secret and you mustn’t pass it on.”
Luke lowered his voice and cautiously said.
“I promise! I will never tell anyone anything! Even if Batman … tortured me!”
The Flash patted his chest and made a promise.
Unfortunately, when it came to the second half of the sentence, there was some lack of confidence.
“It’s nothing really, I just met two hometown folks.”
Luke chuckled lightly and told Barry the answer.
“They’ve prepared a big plan that involves the future of both multiverses.”
Barry looked puzzled and didn’t understand what he meant.
‘Hometown folks?’
‘From New York?’
‘Or the small town in Kansas?’
‘Or Krypton?’
Luke’s mouth quirked up at the corners, punctuating the conversation without further elaboration.
The Batman Who Laughs completely died, and the multiverse that should have fallen into his hands was restarted.
The timeline belonging to Dr. Manhattan, carrying out the great event of the Doomsday Clock, and the timeline belonging to Luke, starting the Crisis on Infinite Earths…
Merged into one and were no longer distinct.
The existence of Superman’s older cousin had been accepted by the Justice League.
The multiverse, which had lost its administrators, stepped into a whole new phase.
…
…
“Without the barrier of the Source Wall, our world is completely exposed to the outside worlds.”
In the Justice League hall, Batman was discussing important matters with Lex Luthor.
Before the great Death Metal event, the two men were at odds with each other and would never have sat at the same table to discuss issues.
But when faced with the laughing bat, the Justice League received a lot of help from Lex Luthor.
Even Batman, who was always on the highest alert, reluctantly approved of the arrogant guy.
“Clark’s older cousin, my godfather, is from another universe.”
Lex Luthor swiped the screen and called up the map of the multiverse.
“According to the information provided by the Flash, that universe is very similar to ours.”
Crossing his arms and propping his jaw, Batman spoke in a raspy voice, “Leaving aside the fact that the people over there are friendly or not, our world and theirs, are coming closer and closer.”
“Who knows if two universes colliding together will destroy, or … create other problems.”
Lex Luthor was silent for a moment and suddenly laughed, “I’m sure the Uncle will find a way.”
“You’re actually pinning your hopes of solving the problem on someone else?”
Batman expressed surprise. He knew the other party well.
Lex Luthor was a proud and annoying guy.
When the world was in danger, he would stand up and act as a hero;
He could also be indifferent to the lives of others, and would do anything to achieve his goals.
But no matter what, Lex Luthor had always believed only in himself.
Others, in his view, were just tools.
“First of all, it’s none other than Luke, my godfather.”
Lex said with a straight face.
“Secondly, whether you and I accept it or not, we have to admit the fact that the universe belongs to him now.”
Batman kept silent.
Perpetua, the goddess of creation, became Luke’s worker under the control of Anti-Life Equation.
The Batman Who Laughs was completely erased and disappeared from the story forever.
Dr. Manhattan took over the work of the World Forger and Monitor, observing the changes and development of the multiverse at all times.
After all this, the Justice League couldn’t get involved, and wasn’t qualified to speak.
“Give yourself a break, Batman.”
Lex Luthor switched off the macro map of the multiverse and spoke in a relaxed tone, “I have a hunch that the story of what will happen in the future will be even more exciting.”
…
…
Paradise Island.
As the sun set, the endless ocean gleamed with golden light.
Diana sat on a protruding reef, her eyes in a trance, gazing into the distance.
For some reason, she enjoyed the quiet.
It’s only at these moments that the gallant Amazon Princess revealed the softness inside her.
The setting sun slowly sank into the sea, with only half a silhouette remaining.
A series of tracks suddenly appeared on the beach.
“Long time no see, Diana.”
A warm voice reached Wonder Woman’s ears.
She inclined her head and looked at the young man with a smile at the corners of his lips.
This scene was familiar.
“That picture …”
Diana remembered the old picture she gave to the Flash, which showed a man and woman snuggling intimately.
As if a bright light had passed through her head, dusty memories came flooding back like a tidal wave.
“You … let me wait for so long.”
Wonder Woman, sitting on the reef, flung herself into the man’s arms.
Click!
It was as if the shutter had sounded.
A beautiful silhouette was framed.
…
…
“This is the end of the story.”
A hand gently closed the book, Luke caressed the child sitting on his lap and smiled, “It’s time to go to bed.”
“Hey, I haven’t heard the part about the Justice League vs. the Avengers!”
The little girl, who looked like she was only 5 or 6 years old, shook Luke’s arm and shouted, “Tell me more! Dad, I want to know what happens when the two multiverses merge!”
“It’s late, let’s read it next time.”
Luke gave the cute little porcelain doll-like girl a squeeze and ignored the big, fluttering, dark eyes as he carried his daughter back to bed and tucked her in.
“Good night, Dad. I love 3000!”
The little girl hugged the stuffed teddy bear and kissed Luke on the cheek.
“Good night, baby.”
Luke smiled contentedly, turned the bedside lamp off, and closed the door to the room.
A few minutes later, he returned to his study.
He opened a brand-new book, held a pen and wrote a sentence —
“The beginning of a new story.”
