togophonebook Chapter 526 Damn it, why are Batman and Anti-Criminals together?
Chapter 526 Damn it, why are Batman and Anti-Criminals together?
Chapter 526 Damn it, why are Batman and Anti-Prisoner together?
"Another universe...?" Möbius was somewhat puzzled.
Then he heard Batman say matter-of-factly, "Of course. A battle must never break out in my universe; it would leave this place in ruins. And haven't you considered that once you truly relinquish the Anti-Monitor powers within this body, retaining only the portion belonging to mortal Mobius, will those abandoned powers truly become unclaimed, pure power?"
"Of course we have to do that. We have to seal those powers in the Night Owl's universe. In any case, we must ensure the safety of my universe first."
Möbius was taken aback.
He had originally planned to escape with the essence of the mortal Möbius and then destroy his original body, but now that Batman had offered him a more cruel and harmless solution, why wouldn't he choose it?
"Night Owl initially surrendered to you, but then betrayed you, secretly plotting to oppose you, right? This is an undeniable betrayal, and you can tolerate that? You're a terrible villain. What are you? A philanthropist?"
Mobius was bewildered by Batman's barrage of questions. His thoughts were led by the other man, and he began to seriously consider whether he should punish Night Owl.
He didn't care about Night Owl; at that moment, he was focused on killing Batman to break the fate Barbatos had left him. Then Night Owl told him that he had the ability to help him open a portal to Batman's universe, so he let him go.
Did they surrender? Not completely.
It was less a surrender and more a transaction: he let the other party go, and in return, the other party provided him with one-click navigation.
Once he reached his destination, their transaction was over, or at least that's how the counter-surveillance agents saw it.
From the beginning until now, his goal has always been to escape a fate manipulated by others. To him, Night Owl is nothing but a fart, not worth a second thought. Although the other party's universe is tempting, he has already traded away the right to consume it.
However, after hearing Batman say this, it seems that Owl did indeed swear allegiance to him back then, and now that he has broken his oath, it is indeed wrong.
Mobius wasn't usually that vengeful, but after Batman's explanation, he started to think there was some truth to it.
So he said, "Okay, then we'll move the battlefield there, and use that universe as a dumping ground, leaving that body with the Anti-Monitor power there, along with Superman Supreme."
"Superman Supreme, huh..." Mobius asked Batman about the fighting power that could counter him in his insane state, and Batman gave him the answer: Superman Supreme, and even explained how he enhanced the other party, which satisfied Mobius.
Although Batman cannot create an Omega Effect stripping event to help him detach from the Anti-Life Equation, as long as Superman Supreme injures his body severely enough, he can still escape with his essence.
"I've already planned it out. Whether it's Superman Supreme unleashing his full power to kill your body, or the Anti-Monitor projecting more power from upstream of the timeline to fight Superman Supreme to a standstill,
None of this will affect our ability to create a Speed Force storm in Night Owl's universe, trapping that body and Superman Supreme within it... As for how we replace those propulsion towers... then we use Night Owl's complete set of propulsion towers to propel my universe away."
Mobius paused again. This was much more detailed than he had originally imagined. Even a scapegoat had been prepared. Batman's plan was indeed perfect, but it was somewhat unethical... This plan, from the very beginning, was... not quite like the behavior of a hero.
Wait a minute. What were the hero's actions?
Mobius was suddenly startled. He looked at Batman's face, which showed no sign of hesitation.
Looking at Batman's entire performance from now until now, in what way does he resemble a hero?
He is Mobius, and also the Anti-Monitor. Although the essence of the mortal Mobius has always dominated this body, he has also been influenced by many real Anti-Monitors in terms of personality since his birth. How similar this is to the current Batman.
Hmm. And now he suddenly realized... that the Anti-Surveillance Agent wasn't the only one secretly manipulating his voters—
Barbatos is doing the same thing as him, which is why Batman now acts like a supervillain.
True superheroes are people of high moral character, self-sacrificing spirit, and noble virtues, like gold.
The Batman before him was nothing more than a pathetic creature controlled by a higher power, just like himself. The only difference now was that he had broken free from this control, while the other remained trapped within it.
To confirm his guess, Möbius asked Batman:
"Batman, are you a superhero or a supervillain?"
"Supervillain!"
Okay, very energetic, without a second's hesitation.
Ruined.
Mobius heard Batman continue, "So after all this, you'll be in our universe...?"
"I will leave," Möbius said immediately.
Just kidding. I reckon Barbatos is already grinning behind you right now. When things are over, why wouldn't I leave? Why would I fight him?
Batman has completely fallen from grace. He's now more like a villain than I am, willing to sacrifice the lives of an entire universe without hesitation. Being around him will only make things more dangerous.
After realizing what the real anti-monitor was doing to him from upstream in the trans-time stream, Möbius felt he had never been so clear-headed.
Batman didn't continue the discussion, which relieved Mobius of some of the burden.
If we set aside the issues surrounding Batman, everything is now in place, so...
"We first need to enter Night Owl's universe, then defeat him and set up a suitable battlefield for us."
"Okay," Möbius said.
"Let's go, Robin."
"?"
Mobius punched Batman, knowing it was a bad sign. Batman was trying to verbally dominate him, and this wasn't just a simple title; it was a test.
He must respond, or he will certainly find himself in a passive position in the following matters.
Let's leave it at that for now, he thought.
However, Mobius projected his own feelings onto Batman, believing that Batman was completely under Barbatos's control and was just waiting for the moment of his utter downfall.
But will things really turn out as he suspects?
……
……
……
"Great Lord Barbatos!"
The killing machine is once again making one-way contact with Barbatos, the dragon of the Dark Multiverse, behind the back of the Batman Who Laughs.
He knew very well that the Batman Who Laughs' loyalty to others was not absolute; the Batman Who Laughs was never loyal to anyone, he was only loyal to himself.
Barbatos knew this, but he was too arrogant and powerful to care. This was the attitude of almost every boss the Batman Who Laughs had served when dealing with him, including even the multiverse's mother, Perpetua.
It's hard to say that such a similar attitude wasn't the result of the Batman Who Laughs deliberately guiding people.
However, this attitude can also cause characters like killing machines to develop delusions, leading them to have inappropriate thoughts.
"Lord Barbatos, great Lord Barbatos, you have successfully taken control of that Batman's mind. Now, let's..."
Before the killing machine could finish speaking, Barbatos on the other end of the communication channel suddenly hung up with a click.
The killing machine stared blankly at the black screen, speechless.
What exactly happened? What did he say wrong?
Batman has allied with the Anti-Monitor and is about to sacrifice the Night Owl's universe to save himself. Isn't that utter depravity?
And who else but Lord Barbatos could have caused such a depravity?
Could it be Batman himself?
……
……
……
"No! No, no, no, no..."
Night Owl's eyes were bloodshot as he frantically pounded on the buttons on the screen. The Starro clone in the jar beside him was too weak to even groan; it lay limply there. Meanwhile, inside the main tower, Greer tried to escape but was blocked by a host of backup plans prepared by Night Owl, and was furiously staring at the tightly closed door.
Soon she was forced to continue working, sorting through the chaotic energy flows: because when Night Owl designed the main tower, he deliberately designed it so that if the tower operator stopped sorting the energy, the energy would accumulate in the control room and overwhelm the operator.
Greer's current situation is like that of a package sorter chained to her workstation. She can go on strike, but the increasing number of packages coming from the conveyor belt will crush her to death. This is how Night Owl has implemented a fully automated program of forced labor.
But no matter how much or how well he prepared beforehand, it was still not enough against the combined forces of Batman and the Anti-Monitor, like a knight wielding a longsword with dazzling skill facing Maxim's heavy machine gun.
Just as Night Owl was desperately trying to salvage the situation, like Sisyphus trying to lift a boulder, attempting to prevent the two universes from overlapping, he heard the Joker's voice again in his ears:
"Look, this is the bitter fruit of your actions."
"Shut up!"
"You've considered sacrificing others, you've sacrificed others without hesitation, so why are you the one who can make that decision? Why do you have the right to decide who lives and who dies?"
Night Owl had tried his best to avoid looking at the other man out of the corner of his eye, but the Joker still appeared in his field of vision, lying upside down on the computer screen. Then he climbed off the computer screen, wriggled on the ground like a snake, and then floated into the air: "The answer is simple, because you are strong enough. You are very strong, so you can decide these things. Even Superpower is just a brute, not as strong as you."
"But now, who is the weaker party?"
He whispered in the owl's ear:
"You're the weak one, you're the minority. So tell me, Thomas, how does it feel to be sacrificed?"
"Look at you now, like a dog, desperately praying that you won't be the one sacrificed. Weren't those you killed just as desperate as you are now? Why are you struggling? Thomas, according to your theory, shouldn't those who are abandoned accept it all calmly?"
"It's come to this, and you..."
"Enough! Shut up! I want you to disappear!!!"
Night Owl could no longer ignore the taunts. He roared and fiercely rebuked the other man. He had thought that Joker would not disappear and would continue to appear in his ear and chatter on and on. But to his surprise, Joker actually disappeared right next to him as he shouted. This surprised Night Owl.
His hands almost stopped moving because of this; he forcibly controlled himself from looking around.
There's no time to waste; he shouldn't be paying attention to these things.
He was doing everything he could to salvage his crumbling quarantine plan, but he had no idea how Batman had managed it...
How did he manage to destroy all of this so utterly?
"No, no, no..." As Night Owl cried out in a low voice—his emotions were more active and deteriorating than before—Starro in the jar next to him burst open with a "poof." Night Owl hurriedly manipulated the equipment and cultivated another one in a short time, putting it back into the jar.
But no matter what...
It was all too late.
As a golden portal opened, Night Owl smiled bitterly at the light that appeared before him.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay..." Night Owl manipulated his armor to put it on his body.
He still has a trump card: if Batman wants to merge the two universes, the one he'll send over will definitely be the Anti-Monitor.
If he can convince the Anti-Monitor, he can join forces with them to infiltrate Batman's universe, and then find a way to escape in his own universe again.
For the Anti-Monitor, capturing Batman is the most important thing, right? He already understands the Anti-Monitor's logic, and even though he betrayed him before, he can easily explain it.
Right?
He's not wearing the armor to fight the Anti-Monitor, but to ensure he won't be killed by them immediately and will have a chance to speak.
He'd better pray that the anti-monitors will consider his ability to help him capture Batman...
then……
Night Owl's eyes widened slightly.
Then he saw...
Batman and the Anti-Monitor appeared before him together.
"Look, here comes the interesting part."
The Joker reappeared in Owl's view. He seemed very happy, jumping around.
"You're going to die!"
"That's what the Joker said."
"Haha! Fuck her to death," Night Owl said.
(End of this chapter)