[Integrated/Crossover DC/Marvel] Why Did the World End Again? - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: The Sinners — Ruin

“Based on the plot over these past three days, I can confirm one thing: this so-called game is a preview or rather, a warning.”

“What happened, B?”

Clark was puzzled. He didn’t understand why the two of them had inexplicably been in a coma for three days, nor why Batman was talking about the destruction of the world and suddenly dropping his secret identity.

“Annabelle leaked a secret. She said too much, so she was locked. Last night, we were in a story similar to a mental asylum, but this asylum was in Metropolis.”

“Huh?”

Hal Jordan looked visibly shaken. A “Metropolis Asylum” that was a concept that left one in a stunned silence.

Alice then began to describe the plot. When she mentioned the note, she fell silent, because when she opened her mailbox, the note looked like this.

“Annabelle gave me a note and said it was very important, and that I should only open it after I got out. I just opened it; a lot of it has turned into scrambled code, and I can’t quite understand it.”

With that, Alice presented the note to everyone:

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

“It was like this when I got it. I don’t understand what it means. What is the Red Sun?”

At the mention of the “Red Sun,” the members present fell silent. It reminded them of a specific world: Earth-3.

“Is that what it means?” Clark looked at Bruce. Bruce nodded, and everyone fell into deep thought. Alice also racked her brain until a vital piece of information resurfaced in her memory.

Before all of this happened, she always had a recurring nightmare: a red sun hanging high in the sky.

“So this is a warning?”

“What’s wrong, Alice?” Clark’s concerned voice pulled her out of the endless red void.

“I used to dream about a red sun all the time, but I didn’t know what it meant. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if it’s connected to this game. And just now I encountered Aurora; he said a lot of strange things…”

“What did he say?”

Bruce was curious. In the previous plots, Aurora’s identity had been exceptionally strange. He seemed able to break the fourth wall to communicate with them, and he had connections to others, yet in the plot, he seemed intent on killing everyone.

“He said… if possible, please don’t let him die…”

“So in the upcoming story, he will die? I’ve been pondering a question: are we entering the game to change their endings, or are we merely witnesses?”

At Bruce’s words, everyone fell into a pensive silence. Bruce suddenly recalled a phrase: “Destruction is unstoppable.”

“Then the next person will be either Thea or Aurora. Also, did you get anything else?”

Clark’s question snapped Alice back to attention. She clicked around and, sure enough, found a new tag. After all, they had technically completed the mission by escaping the asylum.

Fire of the Heart: You will firmly believe in what you believe; what you believe shall become the only reality, as long as you believe enough.

“I unlocked this.”

“It’s useful. Superman, search for the coordinates of Earth-3. See what the situation is over there.”

Clark nodded and began the coordinate search. It wasn’t difficult; they had brought back some data from their last trip there.

Alice sat obediently by the side, waiting for the results. After a moment, Clark’s brow furrowed tightly. He could no longer find the coordinates for Earth-3. The coordinates of a universe don’t just jump around randomly; even if they change, they can usually be tracked through a beacon. But for some reason, Earth-3 had completely lost contact.

“Is the Crime Syndicate up to some new evil?”

Everyone gathered around Superman, concerned about the result. Alice sat there bored, but then she heard a sound coming from the computer: Bang, bang, bang. It sounded like something breaking or someone knocking. Alice walked over and found the game screen still active, with Aurora standing there.

He was holding a metal basin, banging on it incessantly. This was clearly the source of the noise.

“Mario! Mario! Don’t go to the Red Sun!”

“Mario! Mario! Come look at me! Hey!”

Aurora’s strange words left Alice even more bewildered. she leaned closer and saw the text in front of Aurora jumping rapidly.

“Don’t go to Earth-3! You’ll die!”

Alice remained silent. She remembered he could break the fourth wall, so if she spoke in front of the computer, he should be able to hear her, right?

“Why? Is there something on Earth-3?”

At this, Aurora fell silent. He seemed to be weighing whether he could say it, but ultimately he stood firm.

“Some brain-dead idiot is over there killing people. That place has already fallen. If you’ve managed to escape, don’t go back.”

Soon, the anomaly on Alice’s end attracted the others. Seeing the Justice League members gathering around, Aurora hurriedly banged his basin again.

“Just a few people listening is enough! I’ve already let a whole ocean of info slide—anymore would be excessive!”

He banged the basin once more.

“Listen to me, Super Mario. There’s a pervert on Earth-3 killing people because he doesn’t want to endure pain, so he’s going mad. If he makes it to your side, you’re all toast. The Universal Consciousness has locked down Earth-3 for self-preservation. Don’t go looking for trouble!”

“What do you mean?” Batman looked at the little figure banging the basin. He needed more information.

“That’s enough for now. It has something to do with Darkseid. Don’t think about it too much; knowing won’t help anyway. You can’t beat Him. Just play the game well, Super Mario. Maybe you can fuse everyone’s superpowers into a five-star War God. Good luck.”

With that, Aurora tossed the basin aside and went back inside. Alice controlled her character to knock on his door, but no matter how much she knocked, he wouldn’t open it. Instead, she knocked out Thea Weeks.

“Is there something you need?”

Alice was stunned. Aurora could break the fourth wall, but Thea couldn’t. How did that work? Facing a list of mundane daily choices, Alice could only control her character to leave quietly.

“What do we do now? He said we can’t go to Earth-3.”

Having witnessed this, Batman began to think. Aurora was extremely strange. Plot-wise, he seemed like a villain, yet he could break the fourth wall and was giving them clues. Batman didn’t know if these clues were reliable, but he had no other choice. They truly couldn’t find Earth-3’s coordinates. They could only wait for the next plot and take it one step at a time.

Meanwhile, another search result appeared on the computer: a video file.

Clark frowned, unsure if he should open it. He looked at Batman and, after receiving a nod of approval, clicked play. The first thing to appear was a brilliant red sun. That was Earth-3.

Ultraman lay on the ground, his condition unknown. All the buildings were in ruins, and two figures were fighting atop them.

One was Darkseid. The other was completely unrecognizable.

A voice came from the video:

“This is the Crime Syndicate. If you are seeing this, we have likely fled or died. A monster descended from the heavens and destroyed everything. He is about to sweep through the entire multiverse. If you see this video, prepare to face him… or run.”

After the video ended, everyone fell into a silence. Green Lantern looked incredulous not because of Earth-3’s destruction, but because he couldn’t believe those villains would provide useful information.

“So Earth-3 is finished?”

“I don’t believe it,” the Flash shook his head. “Bad luck lasts forever. I don’t believe those villains would die that easily.”

“Initiate the Stealth Project.”

Batman’s words shocked those present. This project was something they had designed after returning from the Injustice world, meant to prevent worlds like that from tracking and invading their planet. It was a device that could shield their universe’s signal. However, everything is a double-edged sword: if the signal is shielded, enemies can’t find them, but they also won’t be able to contact anyone else for help.

Furthermore, the device was a prototype. Once activated, it would require an unknown amount of time to shut down automatically.

“Are you sure, B?”

“Activate it. Otherwise, they’ll find us.”

Bruce felt himself being cold frighteningly cold. A disaster was beginning. Mortals were destined to be unable to stop it; the only thing they could do was delay the arrival of destruction or find a solution.

“We need to clear this game as quickly as possible.”

“B, we need to talk.”

The World’s Finest moved away from the crowd. No one knew what they said, but everyone present felt a heavy solemnity. They all knew the world had changed again, and they could only face it. Alice could only wait.

Night fell once more. Alice closed her eyes, wondering whose plot she would enter tonight. She waited for it to come, until she opened her eyes again to see an endless desert of yellow sand a land of total silence.

Alice fumbled through the prologue plot. She looked into the distance; there seemed to be something there. She hurried toward it. As she got closer, she finally saw what it was.

A cross stood there, with something tied to it. Alice couldn’t see clearly, so she stepped closer. But when she saw what was hanging on the cross, she gasped.

A familiar figure hung there skeletal remains bound in the pose of a crucified Jesus. The figure wore a costume familiar to everyone, with a recognizable symbol on the chest: Batman.

“Batman is dead.”

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