[Integrated/Crossover DC/Marvel] Why Did the World End Again? - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Foreign Guests — Nameless

If a God drifts too high, what happens to the world? Humanity makes the world chaotic, while Divinity makes it cold; the scale maintaining the middle ground can never reach a true balance.

Alice continued her trek. Beyond the vast desert of yellow sand lay a desolate small town. The world appeared to have undergone complete desertification, but not entirely one after another, shield-like domes covered various cities.

The cities and the wasteland were two different worlds. Inside the cities, everything was perfectly normal, with neon lights and a bustling atmosphere of prosperity. Outside, there was only endless sand, giving off a sense of death and irreparable decay.

She walked into the center of a city, where a familiar statue still stood: Superman.

However, the Superman of the statue no longer held his formerly approachable image. He wore a cold, indifferent expression, giving off a sense of being completely “fallen.” Alarm bells rang in Alice’s heart.

She recalled the plot regarding Thea is this the disaster brought about by a “broken” Man of Tomorrow?

Ruling the planet and turning the world into his so-called “paradise”?

Suddenly, music began to play. Alice had no refined musical appreciation or artistic talent; she could only sense an urgent, oppressive feeling in the graceful singing approaching her.

Then, people opened their doors and filed onto the streets. Young men, women, and small children stood on both sides of the road, cheering and raising their arms toward the end of the street. A familiar figure appeared there. As the long night approached, he sat in a vehicle passing slowly. When Alice saw the face of the person in the car, she fell silent. As expected, it was Superman, but he looked cold and distant, like an emperor inspecting his territory.

Everything was even worse than she had imagined.

Would a Superman who hangs Batman’s corpse in the desert still be “Superman”? How did Batman die? What on earth happened to make him turn out like this?

Alice swallowed nervously and continued to watch the motorcade pass. The fanatical frenzy on the people’s faces didn’t seem fake, but it was profoundly terrifying.

At the same time, a very prominent wanted poster was plastered on the street, featuring a familiar face: Thea Weeks.

The scene then shifted back to the yellow desert. Thea Weeks stood there, while Superman floated in the sky with a cold expression.

“Come back with me.”

“Back? To go back with you and whitewash this peace?”

Thea Weeks’ reply was sharp. He looked thin, wearing a cream-colored robe over his head, and seemed to be clutching something tightly in his hand. Clearly, he had suffered much during his flight.

“You’ve lost weight.”

“Is that so? Being thin is better than being dead.”

Alice covered her mouth. Brother, you’re quite the tough one. Yet, to her surprise, Superman didn’t get angry at such words. Instead, he continued to reason with him calmly. Alice couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she sensed their relationship was… complicated.

“Kal, if you have any conscience left, or any fond hope for our past feelings, you should let me go.”

“Go? So you can build a resistance and rebel against me? Or inexplicably die in some corner? Give up. Batman is dead. Those people aren’t worth your sacrifice.”

“I am an adult. I have the right to decide my own life. Being locked up with you forever can that truly be called a happy life?”

“Why shouldn’t it be…”

Alice gasped. Intense. This is way too intense…

At these words, Superman’s expression soured, but he said nothing. He drifted down from the sky and gripped Thea’s arm tightly. Alice could see that despite some unknown influence, Thea tried to break free but failed. As Superman held him, he added:

“Don’t struggle. Your skin is fair; it’ll bruise again in a moment.”

“Neurotic.”

Thea Weeks’ sudden remark almost made Alice burst into thunderous laughter. Then, their figures gradually faded. Alice fell silent. A Superman who rules the world and plays the “forced love/confinement” trope? This was seriously over the limit.

Before Alice could think further, the scene shifted. She realized the true plot was starting.

When Alice opened her eyes again, she was in the middle of the yellow desert. her heart sank. In such a massive desert with no landmarks, how was she supposed to get out? How was she supposed to reach safety?!

Alice knew her chances of finding her destination on her own were lower than the chances of a superhero falling from the sky to carry her away.

Central City.

Barry Allen entered the world of dreams. As a speedster, his sleep was very light; he usually required very little sleep to satisfy his daily needs. But just as he closed his eyes, he realized something was different.

Standing in the yellow desert, the Flash fell into thought. Was he dreaming, or was he sleepwalking? He clawed at the sand on the ground; it felt quite real. Had he accidentally run into a parallel world in his sleep?!

The thought made Barry increasingly nervous. It wasn’t like it had never happened before. Cursed Speed Force, can you give me a break for once!

Screaming was useless. After sensing the Speed Force within him, the Flash fell silent. He could feel that the Speed Force in his body was very limited, and the Speed Force in this world was incredibly scarce. This was a strange phenomenon. According to Barry’s past experiences traveling to parallel worlds:

The Speed Force of each world is usually fixed. Especially when a Flash exists, the Speed Force is specifically supplied to that Flash. If one Flash runs into a parallel world, the Speed Force should split in two to accommodate both speedsters.

The Speed Force here was clearly malfunctioning or were there thousands of Flashes in this world?

Barry chose the former theory, as the latter sounded like a ghost story.

With that in mind, he walked through the desert trying to find signs of life. Before he had gone far, he actually saw them: two people walking casually through the desert as if they were on a stroll. Barry didn’t dare greet them immediately because he didn’t know the situation of this world. What if there were cannibals or other metahumans who would capture him?

Getting injured was one thing, but how would he explain this to Batman when he got back?

“Sorry, Consultant, I got caught and I don’t know anything.” “Hm?”

Thinking of Batman’s likely reaction, the Flash felt like there was no hope in life. He decided to trail them first.

In the desert, the two figures looked very relaxed, like they were on vacation. From behind, they appeared to be a young man and woman. The girl had beautiful long blonde hair and a brilliant smile, talking to the boy beside her. The strange thing was that while she gave off the impression of being a beautiful girl, the moment you tried to recall her face, you couldn’t remember a single detail.

The boy was tall and thin, wearing a strange, oversized hat that hid most of his face, showing only his chin and mouth. He nodded occasionally in response. Despite the scorching heat, they wore ordinary clothes and hadn’t broken a single drop of sweat a bizarre phenomenon in itself.

Using his speed, the Flash closed in on them and zipped back, easily observing these anomalies. Just as he was about to run back to maintain a safe distance, his cover was blown.

“You run quite fast!”

The blonde girl flashed a brilliant smile at the rapidly moving Barry Allen. Startled, Barry braked so hard he did two somersaults and tumbled to the ground.

Seeing this, the two quickly helped Barry up and introduced themselves. After hearing their origins, Barry was stunned. Is this a normal world but without superpowers?

Barry figured that if a world were about to be destroyed, people wouldn’t be vacationing in the desert. But considering the girl’s strangeness, he remained neutral. The two then calmly dropped a bombshell of information:

“It seems you’re not an ordinary person either. I’ll be straight with you: neither of us belongs to this world. We were planning a long-term, cross-world leisure trip, but maybe something went wrong with the teleportation circle, and we dropped into this desert. Since we’re here, we might as well walk around.”

Barry nodded. It seemed these two didn’t know what was happening in this world either and wouldn’t be much help. The three decided to travel together. Eventually, in the middle of the yellow desert, they saw a very vibrant color: red hair, a floral shirt, and green shorts. It was glaringly obvious in the environment.

None of the three were ordinary, so they rushed over and helped her up. Alice had completely broken down. The desert was too big; she was afraid to wander, but staying still felt unbearable. She had no sense of direction, so she just picked a way based on intuition.

As expected, Alice had collapsed from heatstroke. As she lay on the ground, she miserably wondered: If I die, will the plot lock? Will I still clear the game? Just as she was lamenting her luck, a figure lifted her up. When Alice looked up and saw the beautiful blonde hair shining, her heart sank. It’s over. If I really died, an angel would come for me. Wait, I don’t even believe in Jesus…

“Alice, are you okay?”

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