allendalepharm Chapter 356 The Sky Collapses and the Earth Shatters
Chapter 356 The Sky Collapses and the Earth Shatters
Chapter 356 The Sky Collapses and the Earth Shatters
After Fiora finished speaking, Joey wasn't the only one whose face darkened; even Batman, who usually kept a straight face and never showed his emotions, immediately changed color.
The two Kryptonians didn't reveal this at first, and Batman pretended they didn't know. Now it seems that Jor-El's female lieutenant is indeed their most trusted confidante.
Furthermore, knowing exactly when to release this information will maximize its effectiveness.
Some things, when said by someone else, have a completely different meaning than when said by Batman himself:
"Joey, let me explain—"
How could he concisely explain to Superman why he had been hiding some information from the other side?
Before I arrived, Jor-El turned back again and "invited" Starfire to the Kryptonian fleet. Was it right or wrong for me to choose not to reveal this to them for the time being?
Many of the Spider-Men watching sensed the tension in the atmosphere. Although many of them didn't know what was happening, the only thing they knew was that Superman was about to unleash his fury.
"Can anyone tell me what happened?"
"Is there a backstory?"
"I think our Bat Instructor is in for a lot of trouble. If those two really start fighting, whose side should we take?"
Has anyone seen the movie "Night Owl vs. Hyperion"?
"Is it the one where all their mothers are named Martha?"
Spider-Man's rambling always manages to spout inappropriate and witty remarks in serious situations.
"Shh! Everyone, now is not the time to say things like that!"
The slightly more plausible Spider-Man Miguel from 2099 would love to conjure up a whole bunch of gags with his light ring and physically silence these original Spider-Men who can't even open their mouths:
"Can't you Peter Parkers watch the occasion?!"
Many new members of the Spider-Lantern Corps only know that there is a Superman in this universe whose power is so great that even the Heirs' families would hesitate to challenge him, but they have no idea what kind of creatures Kryptonians are, or what kind of destructive power Superman can unleash when he is enraged.
Just as everyone was waiting for the furious Superman to unleash his fury, Joey's eyes, which had turned red from the heat vision, gradually cooled down.
A moment later, Joey waved his hand as usual, dismissing the Green Lantern Spider-Men who were binding Fiora.
"Take her to the lantern troupe and lock her up!"
"Ha!" Fiora, who had been waiting to see a good show, chuckled, but was somewhat disappointed to see that Jor-El's son did not throw a tantrum as she had expected.
But before leaving, he praised Joey's actions, saying, "It seems you're not all bad, at least."
Almost all users of the lamp ring have evacuated, with the sole exception:
"Batman, you have to stay. We need to talk!"
Iron Man, who was also the instigator of this chaos and had nowhere else to go, tentatively asked, "What about me?"
"the same as you!"
=====
The three returned to the secret base, which had been ravaged by the Scarlet Witch and whose facilities were in disarray. Joey scanned the geological structure with his eyes, controlled his strength, and then threw a punch.
The rocks collapsed, opening up a cave, and suddenly a brand new room appeared in this underground base.
After the three entered the room, they looked at each other but didn't speak immediately.
Joey disliked this kind of verbal taunting because he believed that everyone was intelligent and would naturally weigh the pros and cons, cooperate with each other, and achieve a balance until they reached their ultimate goal.
But when it comes to his loved one, he still can't stand it; some things are better said face-to-face.
"This is unbelievable! What were you thinking, Bruce?!"
Joey, who had maintained a remarkably calm demeanor, could no longer contain his anger and broke the suffocating atmosphere:
"I remember asking you this question back then! Why lie about something so important!"
Concealing this information was the result of Batman's careful consideration. Even though he had always doubted whether his decision was right or wrong, he still couldn't bring himself to tell the truth.
The reason is simple: although Jor-El is a cosmic warlord, Batman can see that he has a very positive attitude towards Superman and is unlikely to harm Starfire in the short term.
Moreover, the time difference between the two universes still exists. What has passed here for half a year is only a few hours for Xinghuo, who is being held captive.
Therefore, revealing such a thing to Superman would only temporarily increase his pressure and might even interfere with Superman's judgment.
If Starfire is held captive by the Kryptonians, and Joey is too hasty in launching the final battle against the Kryptonians without adequate preparation, who can say what the final outcome will be?
Batman remained silent. Even though he believed his reasons were sufficient and reasonable, Superman was already furious, and it was not a good time to reason with him.
Did someone call my name just now?
Upon hearing the word "Bruce," Dr. Bruce Banner craned his neck and popped out from outside the door, trying to break the ice and intervene in the conversation that was about to explode.
"Frey wants me to ask if anyone wants pizza—"
"Let him get lost!"
After Iron Man and Joey simultaneously drove Bruce Banner away, Joey unleashed another barrage of attacks on Batman:
"You're the one who never trusts your teammates and partners. When are you finally going to truly trust them? Trust me just this once?"
Batman has a neurotic distrust of everything, and Joey can accept that the other person always carries things that could harm him, such as kryptonite, a red sun beam emitter, or even Doomsday's bone spikes.
But it was precisely this lack of information sharing that angered him.
He paced back and forth in front of Batman and Iron Man, and couldn't help but throw another punch, venting his anger by creating a new room in the underground base.
The fact that Starfire had been captured by that old man Joe Al and had his personal freedom restricted made Joey furious. He should have realized this much earlier!
Ever since Starfire returned to another world to recharge the Lamp Ring, only to be replaced by Batman, Joey had suspected that something was wrong with Starfire.
Batman's response was that there was no problem, which meant that when Joey returned to the Flashpoint universe with the Invincible Young Man, he was focused on avoiding the Kryptonians' detection and didn't have the time to notice the anomaly of that meeting.
When he and the Invincible Young Man crashed in Gotham City, they were greeted by Thomas the Elder, not Starfire, from the Justice League's Watchtower, which was suspicious enough.
Faced with such accusations, Batman was speechless.
"you-""
Joey, who wanted to hurl a few more insults, saw that Batman still looked miserable and remained expressionless, and his motivation to continue cursing diminished considerably.
Joey finally understood how the real Clark Kent felt when facing Batman. He was so angry that he wanted to twist Batman's head off and kick it like a ball.
Peeking at the furious Joey through the visor of his Iron Man suit, Tony finally decided to speak: "Uh, I think I'm a little hungry."
To be fair, as a partner who had worked together for several months, Tony was quite loyal to Batman, who had borne all the pressure from Superman. He swallowed his pride and stepped forward to take the hits.
"Is there anything else I need to do here? If not, then I'll—"
"Yes, and you too, Tony!" Joey stepped forward and pointed, nearly piercing a hole in Tony's steel mask. He hadn't even had a chance to settle accounts with the culprit who caused Fiora's escape yet.
"Tony, you—"
Take a deep breath, take a deep breath.
Fortunately, at the last second before he could utter those foolish words, Joey stopped himself and let out a long sigh of relief:
"Hey Tony, hurry up and go find Dr. Banner. I've found a fragment of the Cosmic Cube, and I need you to locate the Space Stone using it. The sooner the better."
"Huh?" Tony, who had been expecting a sudden gust of wind, was completely taken aback: "—That's it?"
Joey, finally losing his temper, yelled, "God, Tony, stop talking nonsense! Your universe is about to end, didn't I tell you that?"
Tony was even more shocked to hear this: "What?! You didn't actually mention that!"
After Joey departed and was pulled back into the X-Men and other mutants' cloning pods to return to this universe, a series of unexpected events occurred, seemingly without any prior warning to Tony.
"Now you know, hurry up! The fate of your entire universe rests on those few gems. Don't waste even a second!"
After seeing Iron Man off, Joey looked at Batman and, after much deliberation, assigned him a task:
"Have those free Spider-Men, Green Lanterns, and Avengers search the universe. Maybe there's a place called 'Vormir.' Once you find it, tell me the location. Don't act rashly."
Joey now both hopes the Soul Stone is there and hopes it isn't.
Next are the Reality Stone and the Power Stone. Joey plans to find them through Thor's methods. One might be related to the war between the Nine Realms many years ago, and the other requires quickly reaching the border between Xandar and the Kree Empire via the Bifrost.
Seeing that Batman remained motionless, a weary Joey rubbed his temples and urged, "What are you waiting for?"
"I think I have to apologize to you."
Watching Joey forcefully shift his focus from his rage to collecting the gems, Batman realized he had indeed underestimated Joey's resilience.
"I betrayed your trust in me, and I never truly trusted you enough. More importantly, it's only now that I realize you're such an outstanding person. I shouldn't have made this decision for you without my consent."
Just like when he first met this Superman, he thought the other party was just an ordinary child who had obtained the power of Kryptonians, until Batman discovered that Joey dared to face Doomsday with a mortal body in the reality overwritten by the Helm of Destiny.
He had to admit that he had misjudged Joey once again. Even though Joey had some emotional flaws and wasn't sunny, cheerful, or positive enough, he had the courage and temperament necessary to become an excellent superman.
The immense burden on his shoulders could not break this superman; he was able to withstand it all.
In response to Batman's apology, Joey remained silent, simply urging him to refocus on the truly pressing matters.
"Enough talk, let's get going and set off."
Joey's state of mind was far from as calm as he appeared; the news of Spark's capture was igniting a raging fire within him.
Even though the flow of time is different between the two universes, and the other party may have only spent three or four hours confined to the Kryptonian fleet, this only intensified the sorrow lingering in Joey's heart.
Perhaps Batman is right; from the very first second of confirmation, this news only brings Joey the fear and torment of loss.
Who could remain unmoved when their loved one's personal freedom is restricted by the enemy?
If possible, Joey just wanted to fly back to the Flashpoint universe immediately, break into the Kryptonian army, and rescue Starfire, who had been kidnapped by his own father.
However, Joey is burdened with too many things right now. Although the final battle with the Kryptonians is drawing ever closer, it is clearly not the right time, and they are still not ready.
But he had already made up his mind that once everything here was over, and his side had accumulated enough strength, the next time he saw Joe...
That old bastard Al, the scene will definitely be earth-shattering.
"Joey! Something's wrong!"
Just as Joey was preparing to set off for Asgard to use the Rainbow Bridge to search for the Power Stone and the Reality Stone, Tony, who had just left, returned:
"We're in big trouble! A truly massive, catastrophic problem!"