269. The People of Gotham Amidst Disaster!

"Let's put that aside for now, Jason. Where have you been these past two years? Why couldn't we reach you? The Tattooed Man even claimed you were dead. What's going on? Were you taken to be soaked in the Lazarus Pit too?"

Kate took two steps forward, her beautiful eyes cautiously fixed on the Red Hood's mask.

"Or are you not really Jason at all, but a clone or something else?"

"I am me," Jason Todd replied casually. "In this world, I have indeed 'died,' but you have no idea what I've been through."

"He crossed into another universe." At this moment, Alex and the others walked over.

Seeing such a large group of people suddenly appear, it was impossible for Barbara and Kate not to be tense. They hadn't seen outsiders for a long time, especially not ones with such strength. Sensing their unease, Alex gave them a kind smile. "No need to be nervous, detectives. We're not your enemies. On the contrary, we're here to help you."

As Barbara fixed her gaze on Alex and his group, she felt an intangible pressure. She had a strong sense of such things, and she had only ever felt this kind of strength from members of the Justice League.

Batwoman Kate caught the key detail. She glanced around in surprise before turning her gaze back to Jason. "You crossed into another universe!?"

"Yes." Jason did not deny it and nodded silently. "I don't know the reason, but at the moment I was killed by a Doomsday-like creature, I entered another apocalyptic future world."

".And you all are...?" Kate looked at Pietro, Ashley, and Alex's group, her eyes full of shock.

"I told you, we're here to help you," Alex said calmly. "We've come from a very far place."

Hearing this, Kate froze in place, and a hint of concern flashed in her eyes. Before this, she had never encountered beings from another world, let alone from an apocalyptic one.

Although she had been a superhero for quite some time, with Batman and others like him bearing most of the burden, they rarely faced situations they couldn't handle.

Now, with the Justice League gone and Earth completely fallen, the remaining heroes were fighting their own battles, receiving centralized commands only through Superman's wife, Lois. This had placed immense pressure on them.

In such a situation, the sudden appearance of a group claiming to be 'visitors from another world' naturally made Kate wary, as no one could tell if this was just a new trick by Darkseid, intended for his amusement.

"Barbara, at least you can trust me, right?" Black Canary, standing behind Alex, finally stepped forward.

She had originally intended to reunite with her long-lost comrades, but standing together again, Black Canary suddenly found herself calm. She could sense the pressure weighing on both Barbara and Kate, and she could also see the red veins in their eyes.

"Dinah?"

Hearing Black Canary's voice, Barbara froze.

"It's me." Black Canary took a step forward, and the two women immediately embraced.

If there was anyone in both the Bat-Family and the Arrow-Family who shared a particularly strong bond, it was Barbara and Black Canary. They had known each other long before the Justice League was formed and had a deep connection.

For a moment, no one interrupted them, leaving the two long-separated sisters to enjoy this rare peaceful atmosphere.

The only one feeling slightly out of place was undoubtedly Kara. At this moment, her only concern was finding her cousin, Superman, as soon as possible. However, news of the Justice League's disappearance was not new, and she knew she couldn't rush. Her only prayer now was that nothing had happened to her cousin.

"Ahem."

After a while, Alex broke the silence. "I don't usually ruin the mood, but here we are, standing on the streets of Gotham in the dead of night. Even if there are no Parademons around, it still feels a bit..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but he knew Barbara would understand his meaning.

"Oh, sorry, my bad. It's just... you all, I... it feels like I'm dreaming." Barbara exhaled deeply, releasing Black Canary.

"I'll take you to the new Batcave. That's where we live now."

"The new Batcave?" Jason turned his head.

Kate responded, "We moved a while ago. The original Batcave was destroyed by Darkseid's Parademons, and Wayne Manor is in ruins. It's clear those Parademons came prepared when they attacked Gotham."

Hearing Kate's explanation, Alex nodded in agreement. Indeed, fighting the Bat-Family can only work in a surprise attack. Giving them time to prepare is a mistake. It seemed Batman knew this as well, having personally arranged the Parademons.

No one understood Gotham better than Batman. After being 'brainwashed' by Darkseid, Batman wielded the executioner's blade over Gotham without hesitation, as evidenced by the current state of the city. Led by Barbara and Kate, the group hurried toward the location of the new Batcave.

Along the way, Alex and his companions briefly introduced themselves and explained the relationship between their two worlds, as well as the experiences of Black Canary and Red Hood in the wasteland world.

When they learned that Kara was Superman's cousin, the expressions on the two Batwomen's faces were priceless. But considering that Black Canary and Red Hood had crossed into another world, Kara's appearance wasn't entirely unbelievable.

With another Kryptonian in the mix, their strength would only increase.

However, Alex could sense through telepathy that Barbara and Kate still didn't fully trust them. They had only led the group to one of the Batcave's newer hideouts, while the true Batcave's location remained secret in their minds.

But Alex wasn't surprised. If they had trusted everyone immediately, it would have been a bit unreasonable. Trust is something that's hard to come by.

Underground, beneath Arkham Asylum.

Everyone sat around a round table, with pristine teacups in front of them. Barbara was holding a kettle, pouring water into the cups. "Have some hot tea to warm up. It looks like it's going to be a sleepless night."

Although Arkham Asylum had long since turned into ruins, the underground facilities were still intact. After Barbara and Kate arrived, they cleaned the place thoroughly.

Holding up his teacup, Alex gently blew on it before looking up to ask.

"Can you tell me about Gotham? I'm still quite curious. Even though it's fallen, it's hard to believe there's not a single living soul left."

After pouring tea for everyone, Barbara returned to her seat and poured herself a cup.

As the tea streamed down, flowing into the cup, Barbara's vision blurred, and she was suddenly reminded of flashes of swords and gunfire.

"Some say Gotham is a magical place; you can never guess the horrors hidden here…"

Whenever Gotham faced a certain disaster—be it under Bane's rule, threatened by the Joker, or taken over by the Riddler—experts would predict a mass exodus. The ones sitting in suits on television, pointing fingers, would predict that the citizens would no longer be able to endure these crises and would decide to flee. But, they never understood Gotham. They never understood the people living here.

The people who choose to live here are each as stubborn as the city itself. In fact, every time Gotham is on the brink of life or death, many of the residents instinctively band together to prove something to those experts.

They want to prove to the entire world—just how resilient the people of Gotham are!

".The Parademons… the Parademons just broke through the GCPD checkpoint! They're moving down the street..."

Boom!

The heat vision blasted apart Barbara's car cover, and the force of the explosion flung her away.

The terrifying blast echoed in Barbara's mind as she lay powerless in the debris. Although her Batsuit absorbed most of the impact, the immense sonic boom left her entire head feeling dazed. Her vision blurred, and her ears were filled with a cacophony of noise, almost rendering her deaf.

After several minutes, when she finally regained focus, she saw that the street around her had long been overrun. Countless Parademons gathered in the sky, wreaking havoc on everything around them.

Gotham was already in ruins. Amid the violent explosions, residents scattered in all directions, but against these fearsome Parademons, they had nowhere to run.

Barbara, with her leg trapped under a car hood, found it hard to move. She saw her earpiece lying not far away and immediately stretched out with all her strength, desperately trying to reach it.

Her bloodied fingers trembled as she felt the pain surging from her leg, but she had no time to dwell on it.

Finally, her fingers touched the earpiece.

Clenching her teeth, Barbara quickly placed the earpiece back in and began reaching out to the heroes on the other side of the city.

"Kate! Kate, can you hear me!?"

But, the only response was an abyss of silence. There was no sound from the earpiece, and Barbara's heart sank. Her calls received no answer, but they did attract several Parademons.

These fear-sensing monsters were experts at hunting prey. They could hear the faintest sounds and track their targets through fear.

A buzzing sound approached. Barbara strained to lift her head and saw a massive Parademon landing in front of her, opening its monstrous mouth wide. Just then, a carefree, cocky laugh echoed from behind the Parademon.

"The more you cut me the bigger I grow. What am I?"

Before either the Parademon or Barbara could react, the next moment—

Bang!

A green bullet shot straight through the back of the Parademon's head, leaving a perfectly round green hole.

The Parademon swayed for a moment before collapsing right in front of Barbara with a thundering crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Barbara looked at the scene in shock, then followed the body upward with her gaze. Standing there, on top of the Parademon's corpse, was a tall, thin man dressed in a green suit and wearing a green hat, holding a gun and laughing wildly.

"The answer is… a hole, my love."

Staring at the man, Barbara couldn't believe her eyes.

"Riddler, how did you…"

As a detective, Barbara could easily tell that the Riddler was utterly terrified. Though he presented himself as carefree and composed, it was all a facade. He was terrified, scared of the chaos and destruction the Parademons were causing in Gotham.

The Riddler knew this too. His trembling lips barely held onto the forced smile he kept on his face, as if doing so could give him some courage.

Tilting his head, the Riddler looked at Barbara and extended his hand.

"The final prank has begun. Care to join me?"

Barbara hesitated for only a couple of seconds before reaching out her hand.

"Count me in."

The two clasped hands.

Each could feel the coldness from the other.

.....

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270. Gotham Falls.

271. A Dance of Madness!

272. Part of Gotham.

273. What Is Hope?

274. Defeated Soldiers.