[Integrated/Crossover DC/Marvel] Why Did the World End Again? - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Informant — Execution

No one knows what kind of end this meeting will ultimately lead humanity toward…

Dawn broke in Metropolis, much like how all stories must reach their final conclusion. Those who worship supreme ideals will die on the road of struggle; those who long for poetry and distant lands will die on the road of exploration. Those left behind are all cowards.

“He is coming.”

The three were huddled together, just about to discuss a way to escape, when Annabelle stiffened for a moment. She quickly returned to normal, a minor interlude that Alice didn’t take to heart, but Bruce saw it.

“Then we…”

“Wait a moment.”

Annabelle’s inexplicable interruption of the conversation left Alice confused. She watched as the woman began rummaging through items under her bed. Alice and Bruce stood by, watching her strange movements.

She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Alice.

“Remember, wait until you are out before you look at this; otherwise, it will be useless. It’s ‘out,’ not out.”

“Huh?”

Alice was bewildered. She didn’t understand why the woman repeated the same word twice. Bruce remained silent, observing her abnormality. For some reason, he had a feeling that she was delivering her final last words…

“My mind is a bit chaotic. Remember what I’m about to say: Batman was once imprisoned here. I came here on purpose; I wanted to get something. I believe that as Batman, he must have left something behind here. So I’ve been searching, but I only found some of it… the rest is up to you to find… So, let’s run!”

“Huh?”

Alice truly couldn’t follow anymore. Weren’t they just discussing an escape plan? Why was she suddenly saying so much and then saying they had to flee immediately? Before Alice could react, Bruce grabbed her.

“Leave. Right now.”

Alice was dazed. She felt like the world had evolved and left her behind. Clearly, everyone was human and speaking Earth languages—how could she hear the words but fail to understand the meaning? What was going on?

“Didn’t you say we were making a plan? Bruce, why are you suddenly saying we have to go?”

While Alice was lost in confusion, the two of them grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away. Fortunately, she wasn’t tall and didn’t eat much or perhaps her character in the game simply wasn’t that heavy. The two of them dragged her along with ease, opened the door, and the three of them sprinted all the way to the first floor.

Arriving at the first floor and looking at the fingerprint scanner and keypad, Alice was about to ask what to do when she saw Annabelle, as if she were in her own home, rapidly inputting the password.

“Wait, the fingerprints…”

Bruce said nothing; he simply took out a prop and pressed it against Annabelle’s neck. Once he had the fingerprints, he opened the main gate. The entire process was so smooth it made their previous secret plotting seem like a joke.

Seeing the gate open, Alice was about to step out when Annabelle grabbed her.

“Okay, we can go… What are you doing???”

“Listen to me first. If you go out, you will be ‘out’.”

“????”

“Alice, listen to her,” Bruce said.

Silence was the “Bridge of Sighs” tonight. Alice truly felt as if these two were old friends who had known each other for years, treating her like a fool to be deceived…

“Batman is right. He saw it. I succeeded, but I failed. Luthor’s plan failed as well. Ordinary people have no way to create a god, but people can cheat. I don’t know if telling you this is correct, because once the future is spoken, the future is completely changed. You must work hard to clear the game. Be fast the faster, the better.”

“????”

“You aren’t wrong.”

Bruce spoke with absolute certainty, making Alice look at him with even more bewilderment.

“From now on, the speed of the river begins to change. The two worlds will invert. Your time is running out, Alice…”

Just as Alice wanted to ask what she intended to do, Annabelle suddenly hugged her, leaning into her ear and speaking in a volume only the two of them could hear:

“If, by the very end, you’ve cleared the game and still can’t solve all of this, then run. And… stop sending me trash gifts, or I’m going to get really angry.”

Just as Alice expected, the door opened. The three of them were standing at the entrance like good friends holding hands and chatting, unwilling to leave. The people behind them soon discovered the anomaly and caught up.

Alice tried to grab Anna, wanting her to escape with them.

But Annabelle only shook her head.

“I can never leave. The only thing you can take away is a falsehood.”

The moment Alice and Bruce stepped out, a white light flashed. They were completely “out” of that place.

Alice woke up with a start in her bed, only to find Bruce lying in the bed next to hers. How did they end up in the same room?

As the two woke up, the door was quickly pushed open, and a crowd of people filed in.

“Great! You’re finally awake!”

A red bolt of lightning blurred around the room. Alice felt like she was going to get dizzy from the spinning.

Standing at the front, Superman looked worried.

“The two of you have been unconscious for three days.”

“Huh?”

Alice was shocked. The previous times only lasted a single night. Why was the time starting to change now?

Bruce’s expression was grim. Alice thought it was just the “wake-up crankiness” of a rich man who hated being stared at. She was about to ask why Batman wasn’t here when Bruce said calmly:

“Alice, I am Batman. Open the game immediately. Something major must have happened inside.”

Alice didn’t have time to be shocked; she rushed to her computer and opened the game.

Superman looked at Batman in confusion, seemingly wanting to ask why he had suddenly dropped his secret identity. The others were curious too, some even signaling to Bruce that they could knock Alice out, but Bruce shook his head. A massive storm was raging in his mind. The situation was much more troublesome and complex than he had imagined.

The world was much larger than he had thought.

Alice hurriedly clicked the game. This time, the loading was much slower than before. It hung there for so long that Alice suspected the computer was broken.

Finally, after a long wait, the game loaded. The first thing that met her eyes was large, blood-red text:

“Due to an emergency game bug, Annabelle has now been locked.”

“Bruce… Annabelle is locked…”

“I know.”

Alice clicked the mouse. Her character’s movements were stiff. Not believing her luck, she knocked on Annabelle’s door, but there was no response. Just as she was about to leave, she saw Aurora coming down the stairs.

“Don’t knock anymore. She won’t be back for a long time.”

Alice wanted to ask what was going on, but she saw the dialogue options had turned into the same words:

“Don’t ask!” “Don’t ask!!” “Don’t ask!!!”

“Look at this!”

Alice pointed at the options to show everyone. However, the moment she spoke, the options immediately reverted to normal text.

The heroes gathered around Batman, who were asking what happened, turned at her voice and saw the screen.

“What is it, Alice?” Superman asked.

Alice looked at the now-normal options and could only say:

“Nothing… the computer just lagged…”

“I understand.”

Sitting on the bed surrounded by people, Bruce knew this was exactly as he suspected.

Just as Alice was about to question if she had seen things, a flood of dialogue popped up in front of Aurora:

“Do not trust anyone.” “Whether it’s us or them.” “Please notice me. If you can, don’t let me die.” “Batman is the center. Don’t let him…”

“Good morning, Mary.”

Alice covered her face. What was happening, and what should she do? Then, she checked her surroundings and found a new exclamation mark in the player’s mailbox.

“Congratulations, Player. You have received a gift from Annabelle: A Fragmented Note.”

“Tolerance is the mission, & Greed +## Arrogance Sin, … Virtue, Lust is Λ Flesh #* Revenge, Cowardice is **, The Red Sun is Paradise. Run, Alice!!!”

“We need an emergency meeting.”

As Bruce spoke those words, the still-dazed Alice followed them to the Justice League Hall. Bruce had already changed into his Batman suit.

“This is not an ordinary game, nor is it a so-called system. This is a warning or you could say, a preview. It is warning us of one thing: our world is going to be destroyed.”

As soon as Batman spoke, everyone present fell into a temporary silence, followed immediately by a heated discussion.

“Uh, is someone invading?” Hal Jordan looked confused. The Flash looked worried. “Then what should we do?”

“Calm down. Listen to Batman,” Wonder Woman said calmly. She kept touching the sword at her waist, seemingly in thought.

Batman looked at the faces of his old partners and said:

“You all remember that I was missing for a time. During that period, I traveled to the past. In this universe, it isn’t just our universe that exists; there are many parallel worlds. The existence of the Justice Lord Superman has already proven this to us.”

“Yes, parallel universes do exist,” Superman nodded. Having performed so many cross-universe rescues was enough proof. But he still didn’t understand how this game could destroy the world.

“This so-called game should be a recorder. The stories that happen inside are the final endings of one of those worlds. All the characters are the last survivors. Annabelle informed us, so she was purged.”

“Informed?” Clark was confused. “She told you our world is going to be destroyed?”

Bruce shook his head and said:

“She saw the future, so she spoke the ending. Alice, do you remember what Annabelle usually does in the game?”

Alice was silent. “She doesn’t go out. Lisol said Annabelle wanted to build a time machine.”

Batman nodded.

“Yes. She succeeded.”

“And that is why she died.”

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